Surround your favourite Bowmore with these five whiskies and you will start a peat collection to challenge the best
For many whisky fans, Bowmore has been their starting point on Islay. It makes sense – Bowmore was the first distillery on Islay to receive a licence to distil so, if you’re looking for a starting point for this dramatic island, then the oldest distillery is the obvious one.
Bowmore produces peated single malts across a range that spans medium to higher intensity smoke and turf flavours. It’s a wonderful example of the art of peated whisky and consequently the world has turned in its favour. Bowmore reaches wonderful heights in auction rooms while also being immediately accessible at entry level to new recruits to Islay’s charms.
So, if Bowmore is your touchstone for peat, where might you go next? If you’re building a collection of peated whisky what might be a good companion bottle to your favourite Bowmore?
Here are five Bowmore alternatives that will easily slot into and build on your preferred Bowmore flavour profile. Three are neighbours from Islay and two from Speyside. One of each, plus your favourite Bowmore, would create the heart of an incredibly interesting collection.
Ardbeg 1998 Very Young
This is a powerhouse bottle that is pretty hard to find. Released in 2004, it was the first bottle released under the then new ownership of Glenmorangie (Itself subsequently becoming part of the LVMH Louis Vuitton Moet Hennessy house).
This release was designed to demonstrate the full-throttle flavour profile of even a young Ardbeg, pumping all the Islay peat and sweetness that the brand is known for into a six-year-old release. Since then, this 58.3% cask strength single malt has become a cult classic and, among Bowmore alternatives it would give a distinct edge to any peat collection.
Port Ellen 1978 10th release
Port Ellen Distillery holds legacy status on Islay. Now owned by Diageo but closed as a distillery since 1983, it’s now a malting house that supplies almost all of the island’s distilleries.
This bottle is a terrific example of what can be found in the remaining stocks. It’s a 31-year-old single malt that is one of only 3,000 bottles. Released at 54.6% natural cask strength, it was released in 2010 as part of the 10th Diageo Special Releases series, an annual collection of superior bottles from Diageo-owned distilleries.
Matured in a refill sherry cask, it has incredible personality and its silent distillery origin ensures its value is heading in only one direction.
Laphroaig Old Malt Cask 14
If you can’t hear the sound of the ocean rolling outside your window then let this Islay masterpiece transport you there.
This peat punch single malt was left in a hogshead cask for 14 years to develop its distinctive Laphroaig character. And let’s not pretend this is for everyone – it’s only a certain quality of palate that can appreciate the salty brine and medicinal personality of a true Laphroaig. Cut through with iodine, seaweed, peat and lots of smoke, this is a whisky to savour with the heat turned up.
Bottled at 50% and drawn from a single cask, this Bowmore alternative was presented as part of independent bottler Hunter Laing’s celebrated Old Malt Cask series, which they created “unashamedly for connoisseurs”.
Caperdonich 25 Peated Secret Speyside
In 2011 the Pernod Ricard-owned Caperdonich distillery was demolished. In doing so a legend was born. The remaining stock has been slowly released in batches to a thirsty audience eager for that rare bottle – a peated Speyside.
This release, which emerged in 2019, is a 25-year-old single malt that valiantly reminds the world of what has been lost to Speyside. Matured in hogshead, it’s part of the Secret Speyside collection, a series of Speyside’s rarest single malts.
This example of Bowmore alternatives is a 53% cask strength small batch release that is layered with complex flavours, particularly the peat and fruit heavy notes that intermingle and dominate this rich and vital link to the past. With no chance of ever going back to Caperdonich’s origins, this bottle is sure to increase in value.
Benriach 22 Albariza Peated
This is a Billy Walsh masterpiece and a sherry bomb. It was matured in American oak before finishing in Pedro Ximenes sherry casks, creating a layer of fruit and sherry flavours that are a perfect foil for the peat undercurrents that support this BenRiach release.
Albariza references the white and calcium-heavy clay that is best for growing the grapes in sherry production.
Bottled at 46%, this 22-year-old single malt is a wonderful Speysider that thoroughly enjoys its peat identity at the heart of sherry maturation country and as one of a select series of Bowmore alternatives.
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