The only urban distillery on Islay, Bowmore sits at the heart of the island's capital. While 'urban' may be overstating the size of Bowmore town, the distillery is one of whisky's best known names around the world.

Sitting between the heavily smoked and unpeated malts found elsewhere on Islay, Bowmore's idiosyncratic style varies from floral to fruity, and recently released vintages have started to hark back to the legendary fruit-bomb days of the 1960s and 70s. A more elegant approach to Islay smoke, Bowmore is always a hit at The Whisky Show.

We are thrilled to say that Bowmore are launching their latest range: the Sherry Oak series at Whisky Show. Bowmore has a long history of bringing together peat and sherry, with some iconic drams in their archives, and this new series promises to make that profile more accessible. This new drams see Bowmore's big fruity peat maritime style given extra depth and weight by the sherry cask.

Bowmore and sherry casks have produced some of the greatest whiskies of all time. The Black Bowmore series reshaped what whisky could be: dense and concentrated for sure, but with a staggering elegance. The balance of herbal peat smoke, sea spray, fruit-laden distillate and the layers of sherry influence has proven a winning one. 

In that vein, Calum Fraser, Bowmore's master blender, has created a new range that sees Bowmore's maritime spirit matured in a selection of European oak first-fill sherry casks. This new range will be available exclusively at Whisky Show with a wider release with The Whisky Exchange.

As part of the same stable of distilleries that includes The Macallan, the team at Bowmore have access to some of the best sherry casks for whisky maturation available, as well as the know-how to get the most out of them. The younger releases in the series are matured in ex-oloroso to give a classic profile. While the older releases spend some time in ex-Pedro Ximenez casks which can add those beguiling sweeter, sticky medjool date notes to a whisky.

It’s great to see the Whisky Show is getting more and more people attending every year. It’s a great event with whisky enthusiasts from around the world and there is a great selection of whisky to try, including some amazing Dream Drams. David Turner, distillery manager.