There was a time when the only real way to the Bunnahabhain distillery on the North Eastern tip of the Island was by sea. Men, like the Helmsman on our bottle, would risk their lives battling the elements to bring barley for the whisky. There are many tales to tell and many welcoming expressions of Bunnahabhain to tell them over.
One such story is hinted at in these letters from 1889. On the left, is a letter from the management of that day, informing the Bunnahabhain distillery manager that ‘dramming’, the practice of allowing workers a non-duty paid drink during the working day, was to be halted on orders from The Board. The second letter is a full and informative, handwritten description of the distillery – right down to the type and number of valves beneath each still. Well, when you love your craft as much as everyone here does, there’s no such thing as too much detail. This is just a taste of our historical records, the majority of which are now stored in the Glasgow University archives for safekeeping.
