Bruichladdich was built in 1881 by three Harvey brothers, William, John and Robert, on the shore of Loch Indaal on the Rinns of Islay, the westernmost part of the island. The Harveys were an established Glasgow whisky family and used an inheritance to finance this, their third distillery, designed by John and engineered by Robert. Bruichladdich changed hands several times over the twentieth century and closed in 1994. It was bought out of mothballs in December 2000 by a group of investors led by Mark Reynier, with Jim McEwan brought in as master distiller and many original staff rehired.
Rémy Cointreau bought the distillery in 2012. Bruichladdich is known for using traceable, mostly Scottish-grown barley and for its heavily peated Octomore range, among the most heavily peated whiskies made anywhere. In 2020 it became the first Scotch whisky producer to gain B Corp certification.