Bruichladdich distiller retires after more than 50 years in the industry

By Arabella Mileham

Published: 27 April, 2015

Bruichladdich's production director and master distiller is stepping down after 15 years at the Hebridean distillery.

Jim McEwan, who started as a cooper at Bowmore aged 15, has more than 52 years experience in the whisky industry. He joined the Islay-based distillery in 2000 and helped spearhead the Islay distillery's renaissance. He introduced a series of innovative single malts that the company said "challenged previous perceptions in the category".

"Jim McEwan has been the architect of a distillation programme of unparalleled complexity through which the progressive Hebridean distillery explored barley variety, provenance, traceability and the concept of terroir," the company said.

CEO Simon Coughlin said his deep understanding of the liquid and his ability to communicate his passion for whisky and for the island had been "an inspiration".

"Jim's achievements and accolades are innumerable. His creation of Octomore, the world's most heavily peated whisky series, and then the innovation behind The Botanist Islay Dry Gin cemented his reputation as one of the greatest distillers of his generation," he said.

Adam Hannett, who has worked closely with McEwan for a number of years, will be stepping into the role when McEwan retires in July.

The distillery was built in 1882 by brother from a Glasgow distillery family, and changed hands numerous times over the next hundred years. Threatened with closure in 1994, it was resurrected in 2000 by private investors Coughlin and former managing director Mark Reynier, both forrmer wine merchant. They restored the Victorian distillery and along with McEwan, initiated a number of new whisky expressions to reboot the brand.

In 2012, the distillery was bought by Rémy Cointreau UK Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Rémy Cointreau Group, for £58m, which included an estimated debt of £10m.

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