Bowmore ( ) is a

distillery Distillation, or classical distillation, is the process of separating the components or substances from a liquid mixture by using selective boiling and condensation, usually inside an apparatus known as a still. Dry distillation is the heati ...

that produces

Scotch whisky Scotch whisky (; sco, Scots whisky/whiskie, whusk(e)y; often simply called whisky or Scotch) is malt whisky or grain whisky (or a blend of the two), made in Scotland. All Scotch whisky was originally made from malted barley. Commercial distil ...

on the

Isle of Islay Islay ( ; gd, Ìle, sco, Ila) is the southernmost island of the Inner Hebrides of Scotland. Known as "The Queen of the Hebrides", it lies in Argyll just south west of Jura and around north of the Northern Irish coast. The island's capital i ...

, an island of the

Inner Hebrides The Inner Hebrides (; Scottish Gaelic: ''Na h-Eileanan a-staigh'', "the inner isles") is an archipelago off the west coast of mainland Scotland, to the south east of the Outer Hebrides. Together these two island chains form the Hebrides, whic ...

. The distillery, which lies on the South Eastern shore of

Loch Indaal Loch Indaal (or Lochindaal) is a sea loch on Islay, the southernmost island of the Hebrides, off the west coast of Scotland. Together with Loch Gruinart to the north, it was formed by the Loch Gruinart Fault, which branches off the Great Glen F ...

, is one of the oldest in

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

. It is said to have been established in 1779 and is the oldest running distillery on

Islay Islay ( ; gd, Ìle, sco, Ila) is the southernmost island of the Inner Hebrides of Scotland. Known as "The Queen of the Hebrides", it lies in Argyll just south west of Jura, Scotland, Jura and around north of the Northern Irish coast. The isl ...

. The distillery is owned by Morrison Bowmore Distillers Ltd, a

holding company A holding company is a company whose primary business is holding a controlling interest in the securities of other companies. A holding company usually does not produce goods or services itself. Its purpose is to own shares of other companies ...

owned by

Beam Suntory Beam Suntory, Inc. is an American-founded, Japanese multinational company that produces alcoholic beverages. It is a subsidiary of Suntory, based in Osaka, Japan. It is the third largest producer of distilled beverages worldwide, behind Diageo ...

, a subsidiary of Japanese multinational drinks conglomerate

Suntory (commonly referred to as simply Suntory) is a Japanese multinational brewing and distilling company group. Established in 1899, it is one of the oldest companies in the distribution of alcoholic beverages in Japan, and makes Japanese whisky. Its ...

. Morrison Bowmore also own the

Auchentoshan Auchentoshan distillery ( ) is a Single malt Scotch, single malt Scotch whisky, whisky distillery in the west of Scotland. The name Auchentoshan is from Scottish Gaelic, Gaelic () and translates as "corner of the field". The distillery is also ...

and Glen Garioch distilleries and produce the

McClelland's Single Malt McClelland's Single Malt is a range of Single Malt Scotch whiskies from four of Scotland's key whisky distilling regions—Highland, Islay, Speyside and Lowland. There is no McClelland's distillery per se, with the scotch being supplied by McCl ...

range of bottlings.

History

The Bowmore Distillery was established in 1779 by a local merchant, John P. Simson, 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 A consul is an official representative of the government of one state in the territory of another, normally acting to assist and protect the citizens of the consul's own country, as well as to facilitate trade and friendship between the people ...

representing the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...

, and

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

through their

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

consulate A consulate is the office of a consul. A type of diplomatic mission, it is usually subordinate to the state's main representation in the capital of that foreign country (host state), usually an embassy (or, only between two Commonwealth coun ...

s. 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 A steamship, often referred to as a steamer, is a type of steam-powered vessel, typically ocean-faring and seaworthy, that is propelled by one or more steam engines that typically move (turn) propellers or paddlewheels. The first steamships ca ...

built to import

barley Barley (''Hordeum vulgare''), a member of the grass family, is a major cereal grain grown in temperate climates globally. It was one of the first cultivated grains, particularly in Eurasia as early as 10,000 years ago. Globally 70% of barley pr ...

and

coal Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock, formed as rock strata called coal seams. Coal is mostly carbon with variable amounts of other elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen. Coal is formed when dea ...

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 closed in 1915 until it was bought from the Mutter family in 1925 by ''J.B. Sheriff & Co.'' and remained under their ownership until being purchased by

Inverness Inverness (; from the gd, Inbhir Nis , meaning "Mouth of the River Ness"; sco, Innerness) is a city in the Scottish Highlands. It is the administrative centre for The Highland Council and is regarded as the capital of the Highlands. Histori ...

-based ''William Grigor & Son, Ltd.'' in 1950. During the World Wars the Bowmore Distillery halted production, and hosted the

RAF Coastal Command RAF Coastal Command was a formation within the Royal Air Force (RAF). It was founded in 1936, when the RAF was restructured into Fighter, Bomber and Coastal Commands and played an important role during the Second World War. Maritime Aviation ...

for much of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, Coastal Command operated

flying boat A flying boat is a type of fixed-winged seaplane with a hull, allowing it to land on water. It differs from a floatplane in that a flying boat's fuselage is purpose-designed for floatation and contains a hull, while floatplanes rely on fusela ...

s from Loch Indaal on

anti-submarine warfare Anti-submarine warfare (ASW, or in older form A/S) is a branch of underwater warfare that uses surface warships, aircraft, submarines, or other platforms, to find, track, and deter, damage, or destroy enemy submarines. Such operations are t ...

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

, following their takeover of Morrison Bowmore Distillers Ltd. during 1994. Suntory had previously been a shareholder in Morrison Bowmore for several years.

Production

Bowmore Distillery sources as much

as possible from on the island of Islay, but there are insufficient quantities produced to satisfy the distillery's demand, so barley is also imported from the mainland. The distillery retains a traditional floor

malt Malt is germinated cereal grain that has been dried in a process known as " malting". The grain is made to germinate by soaking in water and is then halted from germinating further by drying with hot air. Malted grain is used to make beer, wh ...

ing, but this also lacks sufficient capacity; the barley imported from the mainland is normally already malted. The distillery has an annual capacity of two million litres, with

fermentation Fermentation is a metabolic process that produces chemical changes in organic substrates through the action of enzymes. In biochemistry, it is narrowly defined as the extraction of energy from carbohydrates in the absence of oxygen. In food ...

undertaken in traditional wooden washbacks before the liquid is passed through two wash stills and then through two spirit stills. The

waste heat Waste heat is heat that is produced by a machine, or other process that uses energy, as a byproduct of doing work. All such processes give off some waste heat as a fundamental result of the laws of thermodynamics. Waste heat has lower utility ...

from the distillation process goes to heat a nearby public

swimming pool A swimming pool, swimming bath, wading pool, paddling pool, or simply pool, is a structure designed to hold water to enable Human swimming, swimming or other leisure activities. Pools can be built into the ground (in-ground pools) or built ...

that was built in one of the distillery's former warehouses. Morrison Bowmore bottles all whisky produced at Bowmore Distillery and their other distilleries at a facility in

Springburn Springburn ( gd, Allt an Fhuairainn) is an inner-city district in the north of the Scottish city of Glasgow, made up of generally working-class households. Springburn developed from a rural hamlet at the beginning of the 19th century. Its indu ...

Products

Bowmore Islay Single Malt Scotch Whisky, 12 year, 750ml bottle

Standard Range Bowmore - Legend

* ''Bowmore No. 1'' * ''Bowmore Legend'' (discontinued) * ''Bowmore Small Batch'' (discontinued) * ''Bowmore 12 Year Old'' * ''Bowmore 15 Year Old Darkest'' * ''Bowmore 18 Year Old'' * ''Bowmore 25 Year Old'' Limited Edition * ''Bowmore 18 Year Manzanilla Cask'' * ''Bowmore 19 Year French Oak Barrique (exclusive to Amazon)'' * ''Bowmore 26 Year French Oak Barrique'' * ''Bowmore 1964'' * ''Bowmore Vault Edition Atlantic Sea Salt'' * ''Bowmore Mizunara Cask'' * ''Bowmore 1957'' * ''Bowmore The 50 Year Old'' Travel Retail * ''Bowmore 10 Year Old Dark & Intense'' * ''Bowmore 15 Year Old Golden & Elegant'' * ''Bowmore 18 Year Old Deep & Complex'' * ''Bowmore Black Rock'' (discontinued) * ''Bowmore Gold Reef'' (discontinued) * ''Bowmore 17 Year Old White Sands'' (discontinued) * ''Bowmore Springtide'' (discontinued) * ''Bowmore 1984'' (500 btls) Bowmore also produce a number of special edition bottlings and market-specific bottlings. Independent bottlings are also readily available.

References

External links

Official Bowmore Website (UK)

{{Authority control Whisky distilleries in Islay 1779 establishments in Scotland Suntory British companies established in 1779

History

Production

Products

See also

References

External links