The Whiskyphiles

Bowmore

Bowmore

  • Founded: 1779
  • Status: Operational
  • Region: Islay, Scotland – Bowmore, Islay, Argyll PA43 7GS +44(0)1496 810441
  • Online: https://www.bowmore.com/
bowmore-no-1-whisky

History The Bowmore Distillery was established in 1779 by a local merchant, John P. Simpson, before passing into the ownership of the Mutter family, a family of German descent. James Mutter, head of the family, also had farming interests and was Vice Consul representing the Ottoman Empire, Portugal, and Brazil through their Glasgow consulates. There are no records that pinpoint the date Mutter acquired the distillery from Simpson. Mutter would introduce a number of innovative processes to the distillery during his tenure and even had a small iron steam ship built to import barley and coal from the mainland and to export the whisky to Glasgow. A bottle of 1850 Bowmore Single Malt was sold at an auction in September 2007 for £29,400. The distillery was bought from the Mutter family in 1925 by J.B. Sheriff & Co. and remained under their ownership until being purchased by Inverness-based William Grigor & Son, Ltd. in 1950.

During the World Wars the Bowmore Distillery halted production, and hosted the RAF Coastal Command for much of World War II, Coastal Command operated flying boats from Loch Indaal on Anti-submarine warfare missions. Stanley P. Morrison and James Howat formed Stanley P. Morrison Ltd. in 1951, and this company formed Morrison’s Bowmore Distillery, Ltd. in 1963 in order to take over the Bowmore Distillery. Stanley P. Morrison died in 1971, and control of the companies passed to Brian Morrison. The company name has changed slightly, and, following minor restructuring, the distillery is now owned by Morrison Bowmore Distillers Ltd., which is ultimately owned by the Japanese distiller Suntory, following their takeover of Morrison Bowmore Distillers Ltd. during 1994. Suntory had previously been a shareholder in Morrison Bowmore for several years.

The Whiskyphiles tasting notes

Official Bottling
  • bowmore-9-years-old-sherry-cask-matured Bowmore 9 Years Old Sherry Cask Matured (2016) – Bowmore 9 Years Old Sherry Cask Whisky Review Category: Islay single malt scotch whisky Origin: Bowmore Distillery Bottling: Suntory ABV: 40% Cost: £28.25 What they say: Officialy this doesn’t appear on Bowmore’s website in either core range or limited editions – so here is what I have gleaned from other sites “This Islay Single Malt […]
  • bowmore-tempest-10-year-old-batch-2-whisky Bowmore 10 Years Old Tempest Batch 2 (2016) – Bowmore 10 Years Old Tempest Batch 2 (56%, OB, 1st Fill Bourbon Casks, 2010) Whisky Review Category: Islay single malt scotch whisky Origin: Bowmore Distillery Bottling: Morrison Bowmore ABV: 56% Cost: £54.45 What they say: First the storm … then the calm. Matured in first-fill ex-bourbon casks, our Master Blender has selected a range of […]
  • bowmore-12-year-old-whisky Bowmore 12 Years Old (2021) – Lovely, gently smoky and coastal elements with lots of honeyed soft fruits too, the perfect introduction to Bowmore’s core range. 84/100
  • Bowmore 15 years old darkest Bowmore 15 Years Old Darkest (2015) – Bowmore 15 Years Old Darkest Category: Islay single malt scotch whisky Origin: Bowmore distillery Bottling: Suntory ABV: 43% ABV, Cost: £54.34 What they say: 15 Years Old ‘Darkest’15 Years Old | 43% abv | Rich raisins and gentle smoke lead the way to a delicious chocolaty centre. The Darkest DistinctionMatured in an inspired combination of […]
  • Bowmore 15 Years Old Darkest (2021) – Ok for me this is not really an improvement on the 12 Years Old but rather a different perspective on Bowmore, I feel this is never as overtly sherried as the colour suggests and is much more neutral. 84/100
  • Bowmore 18 Years Old (2021) – Rich and smooth like good dark chocolate, subtle peaty and coastal elements mix with plenty of wood influence here. 88/100
  • Bowmore 27 Years Old Timeless Series (2021) – A superb old Bowmore expression, still softly smoky but full of tannic sherry wood influences, dried fruits and nuts and some minerality too. 93/100
  • Bowmore 31 Years Old Timeless Series (2021) – A delicious fruity old bourbon matured Bowmore, smoke is almost non-existant here which is a little reminiscent of old-style peat-smoked (non Islay) whisky. My favourite of the tasting. 94/100
  • bowmore-feis-ile-2016 Bowmore Feis Ile 2016 (2016) – Bowmore Feis Ile 2016 (57.9%, OB, Virgin & Oloroso Casks, 1500 Bottles, 2016) Whisky Review Category: Islay single malt scotch whisky Origin: Bowmore Distillery Bottling: Suntory ABV: 57.9% Cost: £55 What they say: Feis Ile 2016 Special Bottlings Our exclusive Feis Ile release this year is an extraordinary and curious marriage of 4 American Virgin […]
  • Bowmore-Legend-single-malt-scotch-whisky Bowmore Legend (2013) – Bowmore Legend NAS, 40% ABV, £25 for 70cl Score 72/100 What they say: Bowmore Islay Single Malt Scotch Whisky: Legend Islay is a stunningly beautiful, unspoilt island that lies off the west coast of Scotland. Bowmore is the original Islay distillery, having hand crafted its award winning single malt whisky since 1779. Bowmore lies at […]
  • Bowmore Small Batch Reserve (2015) – Bowmore Small Batch Reserve Bourbon Cask Matured Islay single malt scotch whisky 40% ABV, £25 for 70cl Score: 82/100 What they say: Small Batch 40% abv | Exclusively matured in first and second fill ex bourbon casks, then blissfully married together. Good Things Come In Small Batches Exclusively matured in first and second fill ex bourbon casks, […]
Independent Bottling
Cadenhead
  • Bowmore 11 Years Old 2003 Cadenhead’s Authentic Collection (2015) – Bowmore 11 Years Old 2003 Authentic Collection (58.7%, Bourbon HH, 240 Bottles, 2014) Islay single malt scotch whisky 58.7% ABV £47.70 for 70 cl Score: 84/100 What they say: Distilled in 2003 at Bowmore distillery this was matured for 11 years in an ex-Bourbon Hogshead before producing 240 bottles at outturn in December 2014 at […]
  • Bowmore 12 Years Old 2002 Small Batch (2015) – Whisky Review: Bowmore 12 Years Old 2002 Small Batch (57.1%, Cadenheads, Bourbon HHs, 864 Bottles, 2015) Islay single malt scotch whisky 57.1% ABV, £47.95 for 70cl Score: 80/100 What they say: Distilled at Bowmore distillery in 2002 and matured for a full 12 years in bourbon hogsheads, before bottling as part of Wm Cadenhead’s small batch […]
  • Bowmore 13 Years Old 2001 Authentic Collection (2014) – Bowmore 13 Years Old 2001 Authentic Collection (56.6%, Cadenheads, Bourbon HH, 270 Bottles, 2014) 56.6% ABV, £51.90 Score: 79/100 What they say: Distilled at Bowmore Distillery in 2001 and matured in a bourbon hogshead for 13 years before bottling in October 2014 to produce 270 bottles. Nose: Wet smoke, lots of vanilla, quite oily, with […]
  • Bowmore 22 Years Old 1992 Bowmore 22 Years Old 1992 Authentic Collection (2015) – Bowmore 22 Years Old 1992 Authentic Collection (50.8%, Cadenheads, Bourbon HH, 204 Bottles, 2015) Whisky Review Category: Islay single malt scotch whisky Origin: Bowmore Distillery Bottler: Wm Cadenhead’s Authentic Collection ABV: 50.8% Cost: ~ £90 Score: 87/100 What they say: Distilled at the Bowmore Distillery in 1992, this has matured a full 22 years in a bourbon […]
  • bowmore-26-years-old-1989-ac-cadenheads Bowmore 26 Years Old 1989 Authentic Collection (2017) – Bowmore 26 Years Old 1989 Authentic Collection (56.5%, WM Cadenhead, Bourbon HH, 210 Bottles, 2015) Whisky Review Category: Islay single malt scotch whisky Origin: Bowmore Distillery Bottling: Cadenhead’s; Authentic Collection ABV: 56.5% Cost: ~ £150 at auction What they say: A 26 year old Bowmore bottled by Cadenhead’s. Distilled in 1989 and bottled in 2015 […]
Murray McDavid
  • bowmore-26-year-old-1989-cask-3-mission-gold-murray-mcdavid-whisky Bowmore 26 Years Old 1989 Mission Gold (2020) – Bowmore 26 Years Old 1989 Mission Gold whisky review: Fruity, red wine tannins, earthy smoke and perhaps just a little over-spiced on the finish, I think it is fair to say I massively enjoyed this Bowmore though I am quite partial to red wine finishes done well. 87/100
Scotch Malt Whisky Society
  • The Whiskyphiles SMWS 3.225 Galleon Attacked by Pirates SMWS 3.225 Galleon attacked by pirates (2014) – Bowmore 16 Years Old 1997 3.225 Galleon attacked by pirates (57.2%, SMWS, Refill Sherry Butt, 617 Bottles, 2014) 57.2% ABV, £60 for 70cl What they say: The nose, with its delicate smoke, charred wood, tarry rope, sea-spray, cigars , coffee, fruits, spices and a hint of gunpowder, had all the elements of a scene where […]
  • The Whiskyphiles SMWS 3.243 SMWS 3.243 Dark smouldering flamenco gypsy (2015) – Bowmore 17 Years Old 1998 3.243 Dark smouldering flamenco gypsy (57.1%, SMWS, Refill Sherry Butt, 594 Bottles, Feis Ile 2015) Islay single malt scotch whisky 57.1% ABV, £80 / members, £120 Score 86/100 What they say: Cask No. 3.243 Wow – so much on the nose – sherry, tarry wood, clean smoke, dates, figs, roasted chestnuts, […]
  • SMWS 3.251 Engineer's work-bench in a boatyard SMWS 3.251 Engineers work bench in a boatyard (2015) – Bowmore 17 Years Old 1997 3.251 Engineers work bench in a boatyard (55.4%, SMWS, Refill Sherry Butt, 553 Bottles, 2015) Category:  Islay single malt scotch whisky Origin:  Bowmore Distillery Bottling: Scotch Malt Whisky Society Cask 3.251 Engineer’s work-bench in a boatyard ABV: 55.4% Cost: £75.60 Score: 84/100 What they say: 3.251 Engineer’s work-bench in a […]
  • SMWS 3.307 A journey into joy SMWS 3.307 A journey into joy (2018) – SMWS 3.307 A journey into joy whisky review: Quite harsh, over matured, too woody and tannic and far too strong cask influence – the peat is almost non-existant. Once the tannins have beaten your palate the end result is like licking a bar of lavender impregnated coal tar soap. A less joyful journey than the name implies. 80/100