Bruichladdich has revived the Yellow Submarine, one of the releases marking 25 years since the Islay distillery reopened. The new Yellow Submarine landed on 1 June 2026: an unpeated single malt, 14 years old at 54.2%, tied to one of the strangest stories in Scotch whisky.
Release details
Yellow Submarine III matured entirely on Islay for fourteen years, from unpeated Scottish barley of the Appaloosa varietal. The recipe echoes the original 2005 bottling: 75% first-fill ex-bourbon barrels and 25% French red wine casks, first and second fill. It is bottled at 54.2%, non-chill filtered with no added colour. Master blender Adam Hannett describes creme brulee, toasted hazelnut and warming nutmeg, with fresh citrus and a hint of sea salt.
It sells for £100 on the distillery site and through specialist retailers, with a US price around $135. It is a limited edition, and the outturn has not been disclosed.
The story behind the name
The name goes back to 2005, when two fishermen pulled a bright yellow remote-controlled submarine out of the water off Islay. It carried Royal Navy markings, and the Ministry of Defence first denied owning it before claiming it back, with the story making international headlines. A few years earlier the distillery had drawn the attention of the US Defense Threat Reduction Agency: webcams trained on the stills for visitors were mistaken for a possible chemical-weapons setup, since distilling whisky and making such weapons use similar equipment. That mix-up gave the Whisky of Mass Distinction series its name, a play on WMD. A replica of the submarine is on display at the distillery today.
The earlier editions
The saga goes back a long way. After the Whisky of Mass Distinction in 2004, Bruichladdich bottled the same 1991 spirit more than once: the first Yellow Submarine in 2005, 14 years old with a Rioja finish, and WMD III: The Legend Resurfaces, a 25-year-old 1991 at 46% in just 1,991 bottles, moved from sherry casks to Spanish red wine casks and rounded off with refill bourbon.
I tasted the WMD III myself. The nose is strongly estery, with white fruit, vanilla and a hint of plum liqueur. The palate is balanced and fruity, slightly astringent, complex but at times unsettled, with that fruit-spirit character. The finish is spicy and peppery, malty and sweetish.
Yellow Submarine III stays in Bruichladdich’s unpeated guise, so it sits outside the peated ground of the Octomore and Port Charlotte ranges made at the same distillery. For Islay followers it is more a piece of folklore than a bottle to chase for the profile, but at 54.2% and fourteen years entirely on the island it has the numbers to carry the price. It is another of the 25th-anniversary releases, after the Old Skool 10 Years.
