Bowmore Distillery, Islay: The Island’s Oldest
Bowmore at a glance
| Region | Islay (Loch Indaal, Bowmore village) |
| Founded | 1779 — Islay’s oldest |
| Owner | Suntory Global Spirits |
| Visitor centre | Yes |
| Tours | Tiers up to the famous No.1 Vaults — book |
| Opening | Seven days, year-round — check the website |
| Website | bowmore.com |
Overview
Bowmore is the oldest recorded distillery on Islay and one of the oldest in all of Scotland, sitting right on the shore of Loch Indaal in the middle of the island’s little capital, the planned village of Bowmore. Its whisky is the great middle-ground Islay: gently smoky, balanced, salty and citrus-sweet — less ferocious than the Kildalton malts, and a fine place to start with the island’s style.
The history
Bowmore was founded in 1779 by a local merchant, David Simson, making it Islay’s oldest and one of the earliest legal distilleries in the country. It has been an anchor of the village ever since — a large part of the community grew up around it. During the Second World War the distillery was requisitioned as a Coastal Command flying-boat base. Its most famous feature is the No.1 Vaults, one of the oldest maturation warehouses in Scotland, whose stone floor sits below sea level with the loch lapping against the far side of the wall.
The water & the land
Bowmore takes its water from the River Laggan, carried to the distillery along a lade some seven miles long — the river rising inland over some of the oldest rock in the world. The distillery still floor-malts part of its barley over peat, giving the whisky its measured, elegant smoke.
Bowmore’s story is bound up with the making of the village itself. When the Campbells of Shawfield, the improving lairds of Islay, laid out the new planned town of Bowmore in the 1770s to be the island’s capital — with its extraordinary round church built so the devil would have no corner to hide in — the distillery was part of that same wave of orderly development. Before the Campbells, this was Clan Donald country, the island of the Lords of the Isles.
Visiting
Bowmore has a visitor centre in the heart of the village and runs tours seven days a week, year-round, from standard tours up to premium tastings drawn from the No.1 Vaults — book ahead, and check the website for current times. Being in the village, it’s the easiest of all the Islay distilleries to reach on foot.
Nearby & more whisky
- Across Loch Indaal: Bruichladdich
- Bowmore among the oldest working distilleries
- The whole picture: Scotch whisky — regions, distilleries & the oldest of all
Sources
- Bowmore distillery — Wikipedia.
- Bowmore / Suntory Global Spirits; Scotchwhisky.com Whiskypedia.