About Bowmore 23 Year Old Single Malt Scotch Whisky (A.D. Rattray Bottling)
Situated along the shores of Long Indaal, Bowmore Distillery was founded in 1779 by John Simpson. The distillery is the oldest distillery on the island of Islay and the second oldest in Scotland. Its unique location — Long Indaal suffers from steady gusts of wind and strong eddies that make its waters especially hazardous — plays an integral part in defining the lush, rich character of the single malt whisky it produces.
Bowmore Single Malt Scotch Whisky is made from barley that has been expertly cultivated in the rolling hills of Scotland. Once the barley has been harvested, it is malted and peated at the distillery — Bowmore remains one of the few Scottish distilleries that continues to hand-turn, malt, and peat its own barley. Unlike some other distilleries on Islay, however, the drying process is much shorter at Bowmore — only 15 hours — and utilizes only half as much peat, resulting in a whisky with a robust yet still mild smoky flavor.
After the barley has been malted and peated, it is mashed and fermented with pure water drawn from Laggan River. The water has spent two millennia percolating in the ancient rock formations and peatbogs of Islay, giving Bowmore Whiskey its distinctive, chewy body and subtle mouthfeel. Then, the fermented barley is twice distilled through Bowmore's copper-pot stills before being left to mature in the distillery's seaside, underground maturation vaults.
Bowmore 23 Year Old Cask Strength Single Malt Scotch Whisky (A.D. Rattray Bottling) was distilled on February 18, 1989 and aged in a used sherry hogshead cask (Cask No. 1100) for over 8,000 days. On April 27, 2012 — over 23 years after it was initially distilled — the whisky was bottled at cask strength.
Bowmore 23 Year Old Single Malt Scotch Whisky has a slightly peaty aroma, with touches of honey and fruit. The notes of ripe fruits, particularly apricots and red plums, carry forward to the palate, and are well-balanced by notes of honeyed oak and a distinct, oily texture. The finish is smooth and stubborn, with notes of salty tang and a hint of spice. The distinctive character and flavor profile of Bowmore 23 Year Old Single Malt is the result of a stubborn adherence to time-honored tradition, embedded in the distillery and in the island of Islay.
Only 240 bottles of this whisky were ever produced. Pick up one of these rare treasures today!
About A. D. Rattray
In 1868, Andrew Dewar and William Rattray began importing French and Italian wines into Scotland. By the end of the century, their company — known as A.D. Rattray — was representing a number of distilleries in the Highlands region of Scotland, and sold malt whisky to blending houses and exporters.
Over the course of the past 150 years, A.D. Rattray acquired several smaller whisky merchants. As a result, A.D. Rattray's principal business now is bottling unusual and exclusive casks of whisky that represent the unique characteristics of Scotland's different whisky regions, and the whiskies of the Cask Collection represent the finest of these. All whiskies within the Collection are non-chill-filtered and bottled at cask strength.
About Scotch
Scotch is the most popular whisky in the world and is considered the king of them all! There are five whisky regions in Scotland (six if you count the not officially recognized Islands), and each of them produces spirits with unique properties and distinct tasting notes. (The type of grain used determents the type of the scotch.)
Malt whisky is made of malted barley, and grain whisky uses other grains like corn or wheat. Most of the time, a whisky is blended from different distilleries hence the name blended scotch, but if a malt whisky is produced in a single distillery, we get something extraordinary called a single malt.
Check out our impressive selection of scotch whiskies, find your new favorite in the Top 10 scotch whiskies, or explore our treasury of rare & hard to find scotch whiskies.