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Bowmore 12 Year

Bowmore 12 Year

Bowmore distillery was founded in 1779 by John P. Simson before ownership passed to the Mutter family, who held it until the distillery closed in 1915 for ten years, before being purchased and passing through various hands during the 20th Century before falling under a subsidiary of the current owner, Bean Suntory. This conglomorate has a vast spirits portfolio that includes, just in Scotland, the Ardmore, Auchentoshan, Bowmore, Glen Garioch, and Laphroaig distilleries, along with producing the McClelland’s single malt range. It has an annual production capacity of two million liters and the waste heat from the distillation process heats a nearby public swimming pool built in a former warehouse. Through a combination of longevity of operations and careful management, Bowmore currently houses the oldest and most diverse set of whiskies on Islay. The Bowmore 12 is the benchmark of the distillery’s core range, and features maturation in both ex-bourbon and ex-sherry casks.

Tomatin Cù Bòcan

Tomatin Cù Bòcan

Tomatin currently offers a portfolio largely comprised of age statement whiskies, some of them cask finishes. Cù Bòcan is the name of a legendary hellhound said to roam the area around the village of Tomatin and is also the distillery’s equivalent of their Skunk Works (or, closer to whisky than aircraft, Midleton’s Method and Madness micro distillery). It’s a place where Tomatin can experiment and try things outside their normal wheelhouse. The brand’s tagline is “Unlock the Unusual” and seeks to explore the smokier side of the Highland profile. The distillery distills lightly peated barley in small batches every winter, then matures them in a variety of wine casks before the blending process. The Cù Bòcan represents a long return of sorts for the distillery, as they were one of the first distilleries to move away from using peat to smoke their barley after WWII. 

Green Spot Chateau Montelena

Green Spot Chateau Montelena

The Spot series are a line of pot still Irish whiskies produced for Mitchell and Sons, wine merchants and whiskey bonders. Historically, barrels of whiskey were marked with a certain colored spot so they could be easily identified in the warehouses as being of a certain intended age. Being wine merchants, Mitchell and Sons had access to used wine casks and the Green Spot Chateau Montelena is a return to finishing form for the Spot line. The regular Green Spot, cornerstone of the line, was aged for between 7 and 10 years, with further finishing for a year in ex-Zinfandel casks from the famed Chateau Montelena winery in Napa Valley, California.