The starch in the barley is now converted, via a natural process, into soluble sugars.

Today there are only a few distilleries that have their own malt barns, Bowmore Distillery being one of them. The majority of the distilleries have their malted barley produced commercially to their own specifications.

Once the barley has reached the desired stage of germination, the green malt is transfered to the kiln mesh floor where it is dried to halt the germination process. Heat and smoke billow up from beneath the kiln floor and filter through the green malt. When this drying is complete, the barley is said to be malted. Peat is burnt to impart the unique smoky flavour into the moist green malt. The malt takes on a wonderful smoky smell and taste.

The remaining husks of barley, known as draff, are removed and used as cattle feed.

At Bowmore the six washbacks carry the names of former owners of the distillery:
Simpson (1779-1836)
Mutter (1837-1892)
Holmes (1892-1925)
Sherriff (1925-1950)
Grigor (1950-1963)
Morrison (1963-1994)

Malt Whisky is traditionally distilled twice, the first distillation taking place in the wash still. The wash is transferred from the washback into the wash still. Steam filled coils heat the liquid until the alcohol becomes vapour and rises up the still, over the swan neck and into a condenser, where the vapour is then condensed back into a liquid known as low wines.

The low wines are directed through the spirit safe, where the strength and temperature are monitored by the stillman. It then passes into receiving vessels. The collective low wines average strength is 20% alcoholic volume.

The low wines then pass onto the spirit still for a second distillation. The top fractions of the spirit (known as foreshots) and the end (known as feints) then pass into the feints received, ready for the next distillation to take place. Only the 'heart' or the middle cut of the spirit is collected as new spirit to be drawn off into casks for maturation.

The spirit and sample safe is the only means by which the stillman can monitor the strength and temperature of the spirit, allowing him to determine when the spirit is of a suitable quality.

The new spirit is drawn off into oak casks, which have been specially selected by the master blender.

These casks are stored in cool, dark warehouses where they breathe, taking in some of the characteristics of the enviroment in which they lay. At Bowmore, the seawater, battering against the cellar walls, is strong determinant in the flavour of our whisky. A proportion of the whisky in each cask evaporates annually. This is known as the "Angels' share".

Whisky can only be called Scotch Whisky if it is distilled and matured in oak casks for a minimum of three years in Scotland, but many of the casks that are filled at Bowmore lie in the warehouse for many more years before bottling.