Visiting Bowmore distillery - tasting tour

We were staying about 30 seconds away from the Bowmore distillery ... seemed rude not to visit! Another great & involved tour.
Thanks for watching guys - please leave a like & comment if you've enjoyed!
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This video is intended for people of legal drinking age only. Observe the alcohol laws in your country!

[@BuyOneGetOneFree]

I toured Bowmore many years ago when it was still in its prime, maybe early 1990's. They have since then deliberately decided to go for a younger market with a less peaty, less salty taste, less complexity. Changed the traditional brown bottle to clear glass with modern label. There was only 2 on our tour - the tasting was great with baskets of miniatures on the tables. The guide told us take as many as we wanted and laughed as we stuffed our pockets!

[@WhiskyMystery]

The guide was especially natural, open and honest. very enjoyable

[@WhiskyGeek]

Yeah he did a cracking job! Apparently he is shifting over to Ardnahoe now 😁👍

[@TheBlimp56]

Great tour and some really good footage, very impressed by the quality of sound and camera work, enjoyed watching that. The tour guide was a great ambassador for Bowmore.

[@WhiskyGeek]

Thanks Bill! It can be a bit tough to be involved, record & film it all at the same time haha, glad you enjoyed 👍 Keith was a top guy - his enthusiasm made the tour, I believe he is moving over to Ardnahoe now! 😁🥃

[@DonnerPassWhisky]

Thanks for bringing us along on your Whisky trips, really enjoying these. Cheers

[@WhiskyGeek]

Thanks Tim - it's great fun to share our adventures with you!

[@spykerf1545]

Great video, great tour. Little slice of heaven.........

[@malcolmdouglas5476]

Loving these little distillerie vids. Another nice one Ben.

[@WhiskyGeek]

Thanks Malcolm! Got a few more in the queue to edit together!

[@nathancrabtree_]

I need to find someone who says ‘it’s not unpleasant’, instead of ‘that stinks’. Thank you for filming the tour. I really need a trip to Islay!

[@WhiskyGeek]

Haha Jo is too polite to say it stinks ... her face might show it but she wont say it 😉👍 Islay is a must-do for Scotch lovers for sure 🥃😁

[@nathancrabtree_]

Whisky Geek it’s definitely on my list. Which distillery was your favourite?

[@WhiskyGeek]

@@nathancrabtree_ Ooh I guess it's between Caol Ila or Lagavulin but I bet if I had done the warehouse experiences at Bunnahabhain and Bruichladdich they would be up there too! They were all great but I'd recommend taking your time and doing the 'experiences' at the distilleries you already like most 🥃👍

[@WhiskyWhims]

Really starting to fall in love with these types of videos, Ben, may have to attempt one myself :) I can honestly count how many Bowmores (I actually enjoy) on my hand and it is only 3 so far. They need to stop using so much colouring. When my father-in-law and I did a blind tasting of the three samples, 12, 15 and 18, we both agreed that the 15 tasted the best. The 18 came second and the 12 was last. It was a fun experiment, we didn't manage to get on the tour but they gave us the samples and we took them back to Ardbeg (we stayed in a cottage within the distillery). My girlfriend and his wife blind-folded us, then poured them and we tasted them with the blind-fold on. It was really fun and a memory I will not forget. Cheers for making me remember that :)

[@WhiskyGeek]

Haha love a good blind tasting! Was decent of them to let you take the samples. I can understand the 15 being the most accessible, for me it's the biggest offender when it comes to colouring tainting the taste 🤔 The 18 seemed to have a bit more depth to it and Islay-esque peat. Cant help but wonder what could have been without the chill filtering & colour!

[@TheLastDrop]

Great tour. Great vid. Great Ben. 🙂

[@WhiskyGeek]

Haha cheers Chris!

[@slawekmazur792]

great video, thank you. I plan to go visit Bowmore distillery in near future but what you guys said at the very end of this video made me wonder if it's worth it. Would you mind naming those "amazing peated whiskies" you're talking about?

[@GregsWhiskyGuide]

Very cool report, thanks Ben, it's quite complete tour (I'm surprised they let you shoot though), the only disappointment I guess is that Warehouse 1 is under glass during regular visits (do you know how much people must pay to get access to it ? I wonder). I understand your disappointment at the tasting but for me they should have been let people try at least one of the core expressions but cask strength (of course with water aside) & non chill filtered & non coloured = straight from the cask...but it has a cost..not all distilleries do that. Slainte !

[@WhiskyGeek]

Yeah they didn't get caught up on recording anything which was great. I think £70 is the cheapest to sample some of the No1 vaults casks but I'm not sure you get to go behind the glass! The Laphroaig warehouse tasting stayed on this side of the gate 🤔 I wish they'd give something a little special/authentic - would certainly have made the tasting more memorable! I expect the cost would be covered by additional bar tastings and gift shop purchases!

[@foodquig]

I was on the same tour but with a different guide... You did a great job of capturing footage to make a comprehensive video... I don't think my footage is as complete as yours... Oh well.

[@WhiskyGeek]

Thanks foodquig! Our guide was super accommodating of me sticking my camera everywhere haha. Look forward to seeing what you got 👍

[@greigmartin4339]

its a great distillery to visit. really nice visitors centre, well presented with friendly and knowledgeable tour guides. definitely worth visiting. shame about the ownership - i can work with most 40% drams but the chill filtering and ludicrous overuse of colouring brings them down. Bowmore seems to have a solid faithful and loyal customer base especially among older drinkers who recall the 1980's bottlings being really exceptional, that and the marketing dept seems to be adept at getting it onto supermarket shelves and travel retail at relatively low prices. Beam Suntory are down there with Whyte and Mackay as the worst companies to put out single malts in my opinion - quality is too far down their list of priorities. i try to avoid OB Auchentoshans and Ardmores for that same reason. Its a lot harder to screw up Laphroaig but they give it a good go sometimes.

[@WhiskyGeek]

Yeah we thoroughly enjoyed the visit even though the tasting was a little underwhelming. I've been assured a few times that they do make great whisky it's just normally bottled independently haha. I think the chill filtration really hurts them;- their official bottlings tend to come across quite delicate and it doesn't stack up against what you'd expect from an Islay whisky. I can appreciate an Auchentoshan when I'm in the mood but never really been able to get behind Ardmore. With the current trend towards natural & authentic products hopefully they will shift their focus ... hopefully! 😜👍

[@mikeneville9149]

Sitting down in New Zealand sipping Bowmore 12yo and watchn Ur tour😀 Slanjevar!

[@DonnerPassWhisky]

Hi Ben. Watching this again after getting my first Bowmore, the vault edition 1. Really enjoying the mild delicate peat which brings me to a question you may know the answer too? Is the malt they source to mix with the malt they floor malt themselves un peated? Wondering because the peat is mild delicate and unique to me. Hope you and your family are doing great. Cheers

[@WhiskyGeek]

Hey Tim, good to hear from you! It's an interesting question, I don't remember a definitive answer but the precedent was set at Ardbeg when they stated that the Port Ellen maltings would peat malt to their exact ppm specification. This would suggest that Bowmore could be requesting their own softly peated or even unpeated malt. Hope that Bowmore goes down a treat, it's one I enjoyed every time I had some 🥃👍

[@xingyutang4996]

jeez, I really need a translator for that accent no offense🤣 I am Chinese and I really like Bowmore and thinking of having a trip there, thanks for the video!

[@EJGentleman]

The tour footage was very good and your guide was excellent. Bowmore is one of the finest and most under rate scotches. It is, itself, another expression of scotch. It may not be everyone's taste but is a unique expression which should be tried. Everyone's taste is different.

[@WhiskyGeek]

Hey EJ Cookie - funny you should comment, I've just been sipping some Bowmore 12 👍 I'm looking forward to trying some independently bottled Bowmore too. I can understand why some people don't enjoy their standard range but there are much more popular distilleries putting out worse stuff in my opinion 🤔 Cheers 🥃😁

[@EJGentleman]

@@WhiskyGeek Let us know how you like the independently bottled, may do a video? I just opened a Bowmore 12 tonight and it was much better than the last one. I wonder how much they vary year over year? Could be me.. Keep up the great work educating us!

[@Sam-yd9uq]

Great video! can you buy hand-filled bottles at the shop?

[@WhiskyGeek]

Not at Bowmore unfortunately. A lot of the Islay distilleries do offer hand fills and they make great mementos to take home (the Bunnahabhain selection was amazing to geek out over and the Bruichladdich casks were excellent) but I think Bowmore and Laphroaig (both owned by Beam Suntory so offer very similar experiences) only let you fill a small bottle as part of their warehouse demos, which come with the premium price tag of about £70! Cheers Sam 🥃👍

[@Sam-yd9uq]

@@WhiskyGeek Thanks for the info guys :)

[@Watchman999]

Have you heard of Islay Violets (TWE). Does Bowmore taste like flowers?

[@WhiskyGeek]

Not heard of that one before, gave it a quick google - £400 is way out of my price range! I'd jump at the chance to try some 33 year old & NCF Bowmore though 👍 shame it's been coloured. I dont remember picking up a distinct flowers flavour in Bowmore before but I have found green/meadowy and minerality in it which I could see playing off the Cognac finish to give something quite floral.

[@Watchman999]

@@WhiskyGeek yeah it is pricey. But I contacted Elixir 3 different times and they are saying it is not colored.even if it says it is on the whisky exchange.

[@WhiskyGeek]

@@Watchman999 Even better! Authentic & single cask Bowmores can be really great though a little hard to come by 👍

[@mendipfox1650]

Bowmore is a bit of an enigma to me. Love all things Islay, seriously... but Bowmore, Meh. All the core impressions are average at best and all the decent stuff is astronomical. Terrible way to position your product. I’m sure Bowmore will reinvent itself soon. I would love to buy a bottle of Bowmore for

[@WhiskyGeek]

I think I'm yet to try a Bowmore I would call brilliant but have been told there are a few out there - normally bottled independently though! I may have to keep an eye out for one. I enjoy most of their stuff I've tried but like you say they're fairly average. It would have been great to get a sample or two direct from the cask but that tour price was vastly more expensive 🤔 Hopefully they do change tact at some point... thoroughly enjoyed the tour either way 😁 👍