Whisky Bowmore Bicentenary Single Malt 1979 Bottle-70 cl
The Bowmore Bicentenary Single Malt 12 Year Old 1979 is an amber Scottish single malt crafted by Bowmore on the Isle of Islay. This Bicentenary cuvée commemorates the bicentenary of the distillery, whose history dates back to 1779. Dated 1979, it belongs to an anniversary series by Bowmore offered in several expressions; this version carries a 12-year age statement. A historic Islay bottling, identified by its commemorative character and Bowmore provenance.
Identité du vin
- Couleur
- Amber
- Pays
- Ecosse
- Région
- Islay
- Producteur / Domaine
- Bowmore
- Cuvée
- Bicentenary
Bowmore
Bowmore is a Scotch single malt distillery situated in the village of Bowmore, on the island of Islay, on the shores of Loch Indaal. The brand cites 1779 as the date of its first documented mention and presents itself as Islay’s oldest distillery. The distillery is now owned by the Suntory Global Spirits group and still retains, in particular, its floor malting areas and its No. 1 Vaults.
- Owner
- Suntory Global Spirits, via Morrison Bowmore Distillers
- Maître de chais
- David Turner (directeur de la distillerie)
- Production (average bottles per vintage)
- environ 2 000 000 litres d’alcool pur/an (capacité de production)
Histoire du domaine
David Simson obtained a lease on the Bowmore estate in 1766 and established a distillery there. Bowmore cites 1779 as the year of the distillery’s first known mention, although some specialist sources indicate that a distilling licence was not documented until 1816. The Simson family controlled the distillery until it was acquired by William and James Mutter in 1837–1838. The Mutter brothers expanded the distillery and had a water canal built from the River Laggan. John Bell Sherriff bought Bowmore in 1887, before it came under the ownership of a London consortium from 1892 onwards. The Sherriff family took back the distillery in 1925. Production was halted during the Second World War, when the site was requisitioned by the Royal Air Force between 1940 and 1943. William Grigor acquired Bowmore in 1950, then Stanley P. Morrison bought the distillery in 1963 and developed its reputation as a single malt. Suntory acquired a 35 per cent stake in 1989, then took full control of Bowmore in 1994. The distillery is now part of Suntory Global Spirits – the name adopted by Beam Suntory in 2024 – and David Turner is its distillery manager.
Bicentenary
Bowmore Bicentenary is an official single malt bottling released in 1979 for the distillery's 200th anniversary. The main no-age-statement version is a vatting of casks from several distillation years in the 1950s and 1960s, matured in the No.1 Vaults. The reference also existed in several variants, notably a version distilled in 1964.
- Origin of the cuvée name
- The name "Bicentenary" commemorates the bicentenary of the Bowmore distillery, founded in 1779 and celebrated in 1979.
- Cuvée creation year
- 1979
- Style of the cuvée
- An old single malt with a rich, concentrated profile, marked by sherry cask maturation, combining Bowmore's smoky character with a fruity and spicy expression.
- Position within the range
- A prestigious and limited commemorative edition, highly sought after today as a historic Bowmore bottling.
Histoire de la cuvée
Created and bottled in 1979 by Morrison’s Bowmore Distillery Ltd., this edition celebrated the two centuries of the distillery, from 1779 to 1979. The main version brought together old stocks from several distillation years and was presented in a bottle inspired by a hand-blown decanter, accompanied in some markets by a presentation box and a certificate. Several distinct Bicentenary expressions were released that same year.
