The Bruichladdich Islay Barley is an ode to locally sourced non-peated malted barley; with the 2011 batch leveraging produce harvested completely from six farms in and around Islay in the year 2010 and distilled the year after. It may be surprising that most Islay distilleries import barley from the mainland even though soil here is fertile, and the reason being the windy and salt laden environment isn’t always conducive for yielding large amounts of barley. Nevertheless, the expression is matured for a minimum of 6 years, three quarters of which it lays housed in ex-bourbon casks with the remainder of time spent in ex-wine European oak barrels. And as is the case with all expressions from the distillery, the spirit is non chill filtered with a lack of artificial colouring.