Check-in with a Bowmore single malt and make a short break to Islay superb

With six holiday cottages right beside the Bowmore Distillery, the whisky maker’s former workers’ homes are the perfect place to savour a dram

Bowmore Distillery has held its spot on Islay for longer than most: some 245 years have passed since the whisky maker set up shop on the most famous whisky Island. Today, it’s part of the global Suntory group that took ownership in 1994, and it shares that prominent stable with Scottish distilleries such as Auchentoshan and Glen Garioch.

A visit to Islay is on most Scotch whisky fans’ lists, and Bowmore makes that dream a little easier to realise than most. Taking pride of place right next to the distillery is a series of former workers’ cottages that you can check into for short stays every month of the year. 

Former Workers’ Cottages

Dating to the 1800s, the six homes have been thoughtfully renovated to offer a very high level of comfort—they have a four-star Visit Scotland ranking and are also pet-friendly. They range in size from a one-bedroom to a six-bedroom cottage, so there are lots of group sizes catered for. And since they’re in the heart of Bowmore and right next door to the distillery, they’re ideal for the whisky fan to dig deep into this peaty whisky maker’s background and explore the rest of the island too.

Bowmore runs four pot stills and maintains a traditional malting floor at the distillery on the shores of Loch Indaal on Islay. The distillery consumes as much of Islay’s barley as it can get its hands on, but with demand higher than ever, it also imports from other parts of Britain. It malts on site in its own malt barn, but again, the quantities required demand that barley also arrives already malted.

Coastal DNA

The sea and coastline play a big part of Islay’s DNA, and warehouse No. 1, the Vault, right on the edge of the loch, is where much of that DNA is built. Bowmore is considered to be a mildly peated whisky that combines with the minerality of the sea to create its flavour personality, and the Scottish weather whips its way through the Vault to shape and help mature the casks stored within it. 

Bowmore produces an elegant and complex series of core releases, limited editions, rare one-off casks and travel exclusives. If you’re new to the brand, here are two cornerstone bottlings from our shelves to get you started:

BOWMORE 12

This 12-year-old brings Bowmore back to its heydays in the 1960s with a classic medium-peated single malt that is a cornerstone of the brand. With layers of honey, peat and lemon zest, it puts the new drinker right in the path of the Bowmore style. For many, it’s the first introduction to the notes of tropical fruit, smoke and ash that set Bowmore apart from its competitors on Islay.  Bottled at 40%

BOWMORE 15

This sherry-finished single malt is a wonderful step up in the Bowmore range. It’s matured in ex-bourbon and, for its last three years, has been finished in oloroso sherry casks. Despite the sweetness that the sherry delivers, it manages to hold all of the tropical fruit, hints of saltiness, and deep spice that a 15-year-old promises. Bottled at 43%, it has a richer and more complex mouthfeel than expected and a wonderful balance of dark fruit and soft peat.

Click here to view all our Bowmore bottles