Scotland, Isle of Islay. Distillery operational. Owner: Beam - Suntory

Located on the Isle of Islay, in the heart of the village of the same name, in 1963 Bowmore became, under the aegis of Stanley P. Morrison (owner of the distillery until it was bought by the Japanese company Suntory in 1994), one of the greatest commercial successes in the Scotch whisky industry. Vault #1, responsible for some of its greatest releases, including Bowmore 30 Year Old 1963 and Bowmore Bicentenary, played an important role in forging its international reputation. Built below sea level against a natural dyke, its walls and beaten earth floors are constantly steeped in sea spray. Rooted in tradition, Bowmore is one of the last remaining distilleries to malt part of its own barley on-site. Whether matured in bourbon casks (White Bowmore 1964) or sherry casks (Black Bowmore 1964), its spirit, characterized by notes of liquorice, peat and eucalyptus, never fails to reveal the trademark hint of exotic fruit for which the distillery is known.

A Bowmore distilled in 1997 and bottled in 2016, matured for 18 years in a refill sherry butt. This is a limited edition of 606 bottles for the Scotch Malt Whisky Society. The Scotch Malt Whisky Society (SMWS) was founded in Edinburgh in 1983 by a group of friends with a particular passion for whisky. The club selects casks whose bottles are then only available to members. The name of the distillery is not mentioned on the label, but each distillery is given a number as the malt is bottled. The first cask selected by the SMWS, for example, was Glenfarclas, and it therefore uses the number 1. The second number refers to the number of bottlings from each distillery. The club was sold to Glenmorangie in 2004 and then to a group of investors in 2016.