Sell Your Cask of Bowmore Whisky

Bowmore Whisky History

The Bowmore distillery produces fine Scotch whisky on the Inner Hebridian island of Islay. Lying on Loch Indaal’s south eastern shore, Bowmore is one of Scotland’s oldest distilleries, having been said to have been founded as long ago as 1779.

Today, the distillery is in the hands of Morrison Bowmore Distillers Ltd, however back in 1779 it was originally established by John P Simson, who was a local merchant. It eventually passed into the Mutter family’s ownership, and James Mutter, the head of the family, introduced many innovative distilling processing during the time of his ownership. He even built an iron steamship which was used to import coal and barley from the mainland and also to export whisky to Glasgow for sale. In 2007, a bottle of Bowmore Single Malt from 1850 was auctioned off for £29,400.

In 1925, J B Sheriff & Co purchased the distillery, and it stayed in their ownership until 1950 when it was bought by William Grigor & Son Ltd. During the World War, the distillery’s production came to a halt, and the building was home to the RAF Coastal Command during that time, with flying boats being operated on anti-submarine missions from Loch Indaal. In 1963, the distillery was bought by Stanley P Morrison, and so began a legendary era in the Bowmore whisky history, with many of the best bottlings having been produced during the mid-1960s.

The Bowmore Distillery obtains the majority of its barley from Islay itself, however since there is not enough to satisfy the demand of the distillery, it is also brought over from the mainland. Today, the distillery still has a traditional floor malting, however this too does not have enough capacity and therefore in most cases, the barley which is imported has already been malted.

The Bowmore distillery’s annual capacity is 2,000,000 litres, and fermentation takes place in traditional wood washbacks, with the liquid then being passed through 2 wish stills, then through 2 spirit stills. Interestingly, waste heat produced during the process of distillation is used to heat the public swimming pool nearby which was constructed in a former warehouse of the distillery. Bowmore’s whiskies have been matured and distilled using all of the expertise gained by this distillery over many generations, and with a range that comprises everything from the limited-edition expressions to their core collection, Bowmore is known for its balanced and complex flavour.