Bowmore 18 Year Old Islay Single Malt Scotch Whisky
Bowmore · Bowmore Distillery
Bowmore's kiln-dried malt at eighteen years strikes a rare balance between Islay smoke and sherry cask richness. This is peat with polish — not fireplace but hearth. A benchmark for aged Islay whisky.
Nose
Signature Bowmore peat smoke intertwines with dark chocolate and ripe peach. There's a floral undercurrent — rosewater and heather honey — that lifts the smoke and keeps it elegant.
Palate
Creamy and layered. Caramel and dried fruit open the palate before a wave of smoky malt and clove spice arrives. The sherry cask influence brings candied orange and cocoa to the middle.
Finish
Exceptionally long, with lingering smoke, dark chocolate, and a final honeyed sweetness that fades slowly.
- Region
- Islay
- Cask Type
- Ex-Bourbon and Oloroso Sherry Casks
- Peat Level (PPM)
- 20-25 ppm
- Distillation
- Double distilled in copper pot stills
- Maturation
- Matured in ex-bourbon and ex-sherry casks for 18 years in Bowmore's legendary No. 1 Vaults
- Chill-Filtered
- Yes
Cocktail Suggestion
Islay Twilight — 2 oz Bowmore 18 · 0.75 oz honey syrup (2:1) · 0.5 oz fresh lemon juice · 2 dashes Peychaud's bitters · Shake with ice, strain into a coupe, garnish with a lemon twist.
Food Pairing
Duck breast scored and seared to render the fat, served with a tart cherry and balsamic reduction alongside roasted root vegetables. The fruit and fat mirror the whisky's smoke-and-stone-fruit interplay.
Produced at Bowmore, Islay's oldest distillery established in 1779, where malt is still turned by hand on a centuries-old malting floor above peat-fired kilns set beside Loch Indaal.
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