Bowmore Distillery
Main Street Bowmore PA43 7JS
Simply one of the most impressive distilleries on Scotland’s whisky isle of Islay, Bowmore has been hard at work on the shores of Loch Indaal in the island's capital since 1775, and here heritage and tradition is everything. They still, for example, malt a lot of their own barley. The staff tend to hang around too, not just for a few years, but for decades, which says a lot. And the tours are excellent, with even the basic option really opening up this very much working distillery, though if you can snag a VIP tour you can slip into the bonded warehouse to snatch a dram of the ‘Angel’s Share’ straight from the cask. Then, of course, there is also the very well-stocked shop, which is well worth a browse, especially if you prefer the more mellow Bowmore single malt expressions, which don’t blow your head off like some of the more incendiary southern Islay malts.
