| |
|
|
|
 |
|
 |
| |
|
| |
|
| |
 |
| |
|
| |
|
| |
 |
| |
|
| |
|
| |
 |
| |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
| |
Bowmore Distillery
Isle of Islay,
Scotland |
|
 |
| |
Click and watch a video (5:00 min.) of a Bowmore Distillery
guided tour
(courtesy of Erik de Vries, The
Netherlands) |
| |
 |
| |
| |
|
I visited the Bowmore Distillery on Islay in
1988,
1997, 2001, 2004 & 2006. During my visit in the summer of 2004 I took some amazing pictures at good weather
conditions. Here you'll find some information about Bowmore distillery and some of my
nicest pictures. |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
|
With its classic whitewashed buildings and black
trimmed windows, Bowmore distillery settles expansively along the shore of
Loch Indaal, its pagoda-topped chimneys rising grandly above the Town's High
Street. While its frontage is unmistakably Islay, with one seashore warehouse
emblazoned "BOWMORE" in large bold letters, its malts
have a fine character all their own. |
| |
 |
| |
|
It is the oldest licensed distillery on
Islay, founded in 1779 by farmer David Simpson, and one of the first to offer
its product widely as a single malt whisky. In the 1880's and 1890's
Bowmore Islay
whisky was sold throughout Brittain, Ireland and Canada. The focal point of the
town is a round church at the top of the hill, with no corners in which the
devil could hide. This is certainly a distillery rich in legends - indeed, its
most popular single malt is named Bowmore Legend. |
| |
 |
| |
|
The management flirted briefly with
stainless steel washbacks in the 1980's, but reverted to traditional wooden
washbacks and floor maltings in the 1990's. Some of the barley is still malted by
hand on a traditional malting floor and partially dried over a peat fire, the
peat being first crumbled to generate more smoke. Bowmore is only medium peated,
however, with about half the phenols of its neighbours round the coast at
Lagavulin, Laphroaig and Ardbeg, and as such it is not typically Islay.
|
| |
 |
| |
| Its water is drawn from the river Laggan
and it operates a copper-domed mash tun, 4 Oregon pine washbacks and 4 pot
stills. The whisky is matured in Spanish and American oak casks, some stored in
the famous Bowmore No.1 Vaults below sea level, and about a third are prepared with
oloroso sherry. The warm water from the condensers is used to heat a swimming
pool in a former warehouse, converted by the distillery for the use of the
residents. |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
Bowmore Distillery manager
David Turner in the famous Bowmore No.1 Vaults |
| |
|
Bowmore distillery has an excellent visitor
centre offering an audio-visual presentation, tours and tastings. The visitor
centre and a well-stocked shop are open all year.
(source: "Whisky Classified"
by David Wishart © 2002)
|
| |
|
| |
Click and watch: Bowmore The Distillers Art Part 1 (YouTube video
3:14 min.)
with distillery manager
Eddie MacAffer |
| |
Click and watch: Bowmore The Distillers Art Part 2 (YouTube video
3:29 min.)
with my friend and head
distiller David Turner |
| |
Click and watch: Bowmore The Distillers Art Part 3 (YouTube video
8:09 min.)
with one of the three still men
James MacTaggart |
| |
|
| |
  |
| |
|
