An interview with Robin Morton BY JOHANNE MCINNIS
Who is Robin Morton? To most, likely a name that doesn’t remotely ring a bell. But for some of us who have seen him in action he was, for 44 years, one of the people responsible for the quality and DNA of a beloved distillery on Islay – Bunnahabhain. On my first trip to Islay, I recall seeing Robin in the Stillhouse during a tour. Although I was listening to the guide, my eyes watched Robin intently as he walked over to a metal wheel and began to crank it by hand. His appearance mesmerized and struck me the most because he looked more like someone getting ready to hop on his Harley motorcycle versus the person responsible for the distillation run? He had a buzz cut, large mustache, was covered in tattoos and
away from the concentration and task he needed to finish. So when the opportunity to interview him for the magazine came up – I jumped on it! But first, just a little about the distillery: Opened in 1881, the path from the main road was meant for barley and coal laden horse-drawn buggies, yet almost 150 years later that still very narrow road can make for some interesting driving experiences when a 30 foot lorry is meeting you head on (yes I’m speaking from experience). The distillery’s white washed exterior darkened by wild yeasts lends a bit of an industrial look to it, often described as “jail like”. I think it’s gorgeous! Robin Morton wasn’t born an Ileac 1 but fell in love with and followed his sweetheart Jeannette, who was. He was hired in 1978 to start working at Bunnahabhain’s tun room and was trained by then distiller, Victor McLellan. It certainly wasn’t a glamorous job as he recalled it often involved being lowered down into the large washbacks to clean them in between each fermentation process and back then, all the workers lived in small houses right on Bunnahabhain grounds, today mostly gone due to a large renovation project the distillery undertook a few years ago.
well, generally husky looking. He finished whatever he was doing and disappeared quietly, nobody else even seemed to notice. In 2019, during another trip to Islay, Robin was there again and this time I walked over and said hello. I don’t think I startled him per say, but in hindsight, I was likely taking
1 Person born on Islay, Scotland
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the whisky explorer magazine
WINTER 2024
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