{"id":23178,"date":"2025-03-28T12:14:51","date_gmt":"2025-03-28T10:14:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bitterbooze.com\/?p=23178"},"modified":"2025-03-31T13:36:05","modified_gmt":"2025-03-31T10:36:05","slug":"adam-hannett-capturing-the-contours-of-islay","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bitterbooze.com\/en\/adam-hannett-capturing-the-contours-of-islay\/","title":{"rendered":"Adam Hannett \u2013 Capturing the contours of Islay"},"content":{"rendered":"

An exclusive interview with the master distiller behind The Botanist gin and the whiskies of Bruichladdich Distillery\u2014perhaps Scotland\u2019s most terroir-driven spirits.<\/h4>\n

I haven\u2019t met many people who started from such a humble position within a brand of historic magnitude, global reach, and with a living legend at the helm\u2014only to rise to the very top of the production ladder in just a few years, all while remaining effortlessly cool, approachable, and genuinely friendly. Adam Hannett<\/strong> has achieved all of this in under fifteen years. Today, he\u2019s at the helm of Bruichladdich Distillery<\/strong>, overseeing and defining the production for an impressively diverse portfolio: the storied Bruichladdich single malt, the peated and wildly innovative Port Charlotte<\/strong>, the \u201cpeat bomb\u201d Octomore<\/strong>, and one of the world\u2019s most successful gin brands, The Botanist<\/strong>. These three whiskies and one gin manage to capture the soul of the Isle of Islay<\/strong> in the most authentic way.<\/p>\n

I had the great pleasure of meeting Adam<\/strong> on his home turf during my recent trip to the windswept island of Islay, accompanied by my travel companion Ioannis Aikaterinidis. We sat down in person to talk about the ambitious project known as Progressive Hebridean Distillers<\/strong>, its impact on the local island community, the role of terroir in spirits, regenerative agriculture, sustainability, and of course\u2026 Ugly Betty<\/strong>, the uniquely beautiful and customized still behind The Botanist<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\"Adam\n

When Adam Hannett first started working as a tour guide at the Bruichladdich<\/strong> distillery, the distillery itself was still in the early stages of its revival. You see, like many other distilleries, Bruichladdich had ceased production in 1994, only to be brought back to life in 2000 following its acquisition by Murray McDavid<\/a>, under the leadership of Mark Reynier<\/strong>, Jim McEwan<\/strong>, and Simon Coughlin<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I first started at Bruichladdich<\/strong>,\u201d<\/em> Adam recalls, \u201cwe would close for two weeks over Christmas, and we genuinely didn\u2019t know if we\u2019d have jobs to return to in January. The uncertainty was enormous. So, at that time, the only thing you could really do was work hard and hope. That\u2019s what Jim McEwan<\/strong> and Duncan McGillivray<\/strong> passed on to me above all else: a solid work ethic and the value of hard work. They also taught me to trust myself and believe in my abilities.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

And that\u2019s exactly what Adam did\u2014drawing out every ounce of skill and confidence from within himself, inspired by a man (Jim McEwan<\/strong>) so charismatic that he is now considered a living legend\u2014not just on Islay, but throughout Scotland. Perhaps the most telling example of this mentorship is the story of Black Art<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\"Adam\n

Adam Hannett recounts the legendary story of Black Art<\/h3>\n

Black Art was one of Jim McEwan<\/strong>\u2019s most iconic creations\u2014a whisky shrouded in mystery, about which almost nothing was known beyond the bare essentials: it was made from whiskies distilled before the distillery\u2019s closure, a carefully guarded secret, a legacy of both Bruichladdich\u2019s<\/strong> past and of the distiller himself to whisky lovers around the world. It\u2019s no surprise that it still comes up in hushed tones in many whisky conversations.<\/p>\n

In 2015, just a few weeks before his retirement, McEwan<\/strong> wrote the recipe for Black Art on a small piece of paper and handed it to Adam<\/strong>. This moment came after years of mentorship and the gradual passing down of knowledge, craft, and philosophy to his closest collaborator.<\/p>\n

\u201cI thought you might find this useful,\u201d<\/em> McEwan<\/strong> said as he handed over the note to his prot\u00e9g\u00e9.<\/p>\n

Adam had no idea his mentor was about to retire. To him, it was just another morning when the core production team gathered for their daily tea in McEwan\u2019s<\/strong> office\u2014except that day, it was just the two of them. They chatted about football, discussed a few matters at the distillery, and then, quietly and without ceremony, McEwan<\/strong> gave him the slip of paper with the recipe.<\/p>\n\"Adam\n

In a moment that was\u2014by Scottish standards\u2014deeply emotional, Adam simply thanked him and they got on with their day. \u201cThanks very much, I\u2019ll have a look at it,\u201d<\/em> Adam Hannett<\/strong> said, and once McEwan<\/strong> had left the office, he read the note\u2026 and tossed it into the bin.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnywhere else in the world, receiving something like that would\u2019ve been cause for celebration\u2014but not in Scotland.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

At the time, Adam still didn\u2019t know that McEwan<\/strong> would soon be retiring, nor that he himself would be taking the reins of Bruichladdich<\/strong>. What he did know, however, was that it would now be up to him to rely on his own experience and instincts\u2014along with the confidence that his former mentor had carefully instilled in him. And that\u2019s exactly what he did, continuing the legacy of Black Art through his own unique approach.<\/p>\n

\"\"\"\"<\/div>\n

The Botanist: the gin from the small island of Islay that conquered the world<\/h3>\n

Like many great spirits, The Botanist<\/strong> began as an ambitious experiment. It was the first gin ever produced on an island known for its peated whisky tradition\u2014emerging from a distillery that had spent over a century focused solely on single malt production. Even the still it was made in was originally designed for whisky.<\/p>\n

\u201cUgly Betty\u201d is an odd-looking, unconventional Lomond-style still\u2014quirky in appearance and highly experimental by design. It was originally developed at the Inverleven<\/strong> distillery by Alistair Cunningham<\/strong>, featuring removable sections and a fully customizable distillation setup. In 2003, Jim McEwan<\/strong> essentially saved the still from oblivion, transporting it to Islay. When it was reassembled, the team modified it with the addition of a metal basket for vapour infusion. They packed it with The Botanist\u2019s<\/strong> botanicals and fired it up\u2014without the faintest idea of what the outcome might be.<\/p>\n

The result, of course, astonished everyone.<\/p>\n\"\u0397\n

I asked him if they had ever tried distilling whisky with that still, and he told me they\u2019re a bit superstitious when it comes to things like that. \u201cOnce we tried it with gin and the result was amazing, we never put anything else in it again,\u201d<\/em> he said. \u201cJust think\u2014during that very first run, we didn\u2019t even have a thermometer to measure the working temperature of the still. We slowly raised the temperature of the pot, with our hands literally inside the alcohol along with the core botanicals. When it got hot enough that we couldn\u2019t keep our hand in anymore, that\u2019s when we knew we\u2019d reached the right point. The alcohol never actually boiled. And even today, even though we do have thermometers now, we still do the hand test!\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

The 22 botanicals of The Botanist and the juniper branch<\/h3>\n

To develop the recipe for The Botanist, the team brought in two Scottish botanists, Richard and Mavis Gulliver, in an advisory role. The couple provided a list of 30\u201340 botanicals they had identified as growing abundantly on the Isle of Islay. From that list, the production team selected 21, which led to the gin\u2019s initial working name: G21.<\/p>\n

But in reality, it was never just 21 botanicals. During the first distillation run, then-CEO Mark Reynier<\/strong> added a single sprig of locally foraged Islay juniper into the still\u2014bringing the total, at least symbolically, to 22. That number remains proudly displayed on every bottle of The Botanist to this day.<\/p>\n\"Adam\n

The island\u2019s juniper, however, couldn\u2019t support such large-scale production. Adam Hannett explained that the number of juniper trees had dwindled over the centuries due to illicit distillation practices, and remains low to this day\u2014partly because local wildlife still enjoys munching on the lower branches.<\/p>\n

And while Reynier\u2019s sprig was largely symbolic, today The Botanist team, through the Botanist Foundation<\/a><\/strong>, is working tirelessly to regenerate native juniper. They\u2019re actively replanting, monitoring the island\u2019s overall biodiversity, and training a new generation in ethical foraging. One of those foragers, in fact, is Adam Hannett\u2019s own sister\u2014now working full-time, hand-harvesting botanicals from the wilds of Islay for The Botanist.<\/p>\n

Adam Hannett captures the essence of Islay in a bottle of gin<\/h3>\n

For Adam Hannett, the goal isn\u2019t to make just another gin. The Botanist<\/strong> team aims to distill the island itself\u2014its scent, its texture, its energy. \u201cWhen you make whisky, you can\u2019t capture everything,\u201d<\/em> he explains. \u201cThere are plants here\u2014gorse flowers, wild mint, bog myrtle\u2014with incredible aromas. But they can\u2019t be used in whisky. Gin, however, allows us to express them.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

It\u2019s this belief that makes The Botanist<\/strong> feel like an entire landscape in a glass. And having now travelled to Islay, experienced its raw natural beauty, and etched its contours into my memory, I find its magic returning to me\u2014sip by sip\u2014through this extraordinary Scottish gin.<\/p>\n\"Bruichladdich\"\n

Progressive Hebridean Distillers: Innovative production, conscious philosophy<\/h3>\n

But the fame of Bruichladdich Distillery<\/strong> didn\u2019t peak with the creation of The Botanist,<\/strong> nor did it wane after the retirement of Jim McEwan. Under the baton of Adam Hannett<\/strong>, the distillery has gone even further. They bottled a quadruple-distilled whisky inspired by documented accounts from the 17th century, reintroduced the cultivation of rye to the island using regenerative and circular farming methods, and sourced biodynamically grown barley from farms committed to carbon-sequestering agricultural practices.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe discovered, quite by accident, that if you plant rye in a field one year and follow it with barley the next, the outcome is not only better agriculturally, but the soil itself improves\u2014reducing the need for chemicals, fertilizers, and soil enhancers.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

After touring all of the distillery\u2019s facilities, we made our way to the warehouses, where their casks mature in silence. There, we had the chance to taste the infamous quadruple-distilled whisky, which Bruichladdich released a few years ago, inspired by a travel guide from 1695. According to the writer of that guide, \u201cA single spoonful of the spirit would let you live forever; two spoonfuls would blind you; and three\u2026 well, by then you wouldn\u2019t care about your eyesight, because you\u2019d be dead.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

Ioannis and I only had a few sips\u2014surely less than a full spoonful\u2014of this 18-year-old spirit, bottled at a staggering 68% ABV. We felt just fine afterward, so we figure there\u2019s still hope we might live forever.<\/p>\n

\"\"\"\"<\/div>\n

Yet despite all these bold experiments, Adam Hannett\u2019s guiding principle remains slowness and intentionality. \u201cWhisky takes decades,\u201d he explains. \u201cAnd mistakes don\u2019t show up right away. It\u2019s not like uploading a video to YouTube. If you mess things up, you won\u2019t realize it until ten years later.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

More than just a distillery<\/h3>\n

In practice, this is an entire community devoted to the island\u2019s culture\u2014committed to helping it flourish. Guided by these values, the distillery now employs around a hundred people and supports dozens of farmers across Islay. Twenty years ago, no one was growing barley for whisky on the island\u2014it was cheaper and more convenient in the short term to source it from elsewhere. Today, over twenty farms cultivate barley, thanks in large part to the distillery\u2019s pledge to prioritize local ingredients.<\/p>\n

They also collaborate with the James Hutton Institute<\/a> to develop barley varieties that require fewer interventions\u2014less chemical input, less energy, and less fertile land\u2014while leaving healthier soil behind. Rye, as mentioned earlier, is slowly becoming a staple in Islay\u2019s farming rotation, naturally enriching the soil and reducing the need for synthetic treatments.<\/p>\n\"\"\n

And that is what real sustainability looks like\u2014sustainability in action, not just another bullet point for the next press release. Bruichladdich<\/strong> has significantly reduced unnecessary packaging, redesigned its bottles to be made from 80% recycled glass, and consciously rejects marketing gimmicks in favor of authenticity. \u201cThe days of metal tins are over for us,\u201d says Hannett<\/strong>. \u201cWhy bring metal from the other side of Scotland\u2014or the world\u2014just to package your bottles?\u201d<\/p>\n

As for peat\u2014Islay\u2019s<\/strong> sacred cow and currently an endangered resource on the island\u2014Bruichladdich<\/strong> takes a very different approach. The distillery has invested in long-term peatland restoration projects, in collaboration with environmental foundations, aiming for a net positive carbon capture outcome over time.<\/p>\n\"\"\n

We concluded our fascinating conversation with a glass of 35-year-old Bruichladdich<\/strong>, drawn straight from the cask\u2014a cask that had previously held Pedro Xim\u00e9nez sherry, instantly elevating our whisky expectations in Scotland to a new peak. I honestly don\u2019t know if we tasted another whisky during the rest of our time on the island that could rival that PX-aged gem.<\/p>\n

What I do know for certain is that we met someone who embodies everything modern distilling should stand for: dedication, integrity, innovation, respect for one’s land, and above all, a belief that things are better when they\u2019re done right\u2014not just fast.<\/p>\n

Adam Hannett<\/strong> possesses that rare quiet confidence found only in those who\u2019ve reached the top through hard work, not noise. And that, perhaps, is the rarest spirit of all.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

An exclusive interview with the master distiller behind The Botanist gin and the whiskies of Bruichladdich Distillery\u2014perhaps Scotland\u2019s most terroir-driven spirits. I haven\u2019t met many people who started from such a humble position within a brand of historic magnitude, global reach, and with a living legend at the helm\u2014only to rise to the very top […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":23154,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2325],"tags":[4244],"class_list":["post-23178","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-articles-en","tag-islay-en"],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.bitterbooze.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/FotoJet-37.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bitterbooze.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23178","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bitterbooze.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bitterbooze.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bitterbooze.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bitterbooze.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23178"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.bitterbooze.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23178\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":23192,"href":"https:\/\/www.bitterbooze.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23178\/revisions\/23192"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bitterbooze.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/23154"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bitterbooze.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23178"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bitterbooze.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23178"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bitterbooze.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23178"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}