Bowmore Distillery

On the south eastern shore of Loch Indaal, one of the oldest in Scotland

Overview

Bowmore (pronounced "Boh-more") is a distillery that produces single malt scotch whisky on the isle of Islay, an island of the Inner Hebrides. The distillery, which lies on the South Eastern shore of Loch Indaal, is one of the oldest in Scotland, having been established in 1779.

The Bowmore Distillery was established in 1779 by a local merchant, John P Simpson, before passing into the ownership of the Mutter family, a family of German descent. James Mutter, head of the family also had farming interests and was Vice Consul representing the Ottoman Empire, Portugal and Brazil through their Glasgow consulates.

There are no records that pinpoint the date Mutter acquired the distillery from Simpson. Mutter would introduce a number of innovative processes to the distillery during his tenure, and he even had a small iron steam ship built to import barley and coal from the mainland, and to export the whisky to Glasgow. A bottle of Bowmore Single Malt allegedly distilled in 1850 under the Mutter's tenure sold at auction during September 2007 for £29,400.

The distillery was bought from the Mutter family during 1925 by J.B. Sheriff & Co and remained under their ownership before being purchased by Inverness based William Grigor & Son, Ltd. in 1950.

The distillery, like most in Scotland, was mothballed during the World Wars, with the Bowmore Distillery hosting the RAF Coastal Command for much of World War II, Coastal Command operated flying boats from Loch Indaal on Anti-submarine warfare missions.

Stanley P Morrison and James Howat formed Stanley P. Morrison Ltd. in 1951, and this company, formed Morrison's Bowmore Distillery, Ltd. in 1963 in order to takeover the Bowmore Distillery. Stanley P. Morrison died in 1971 and control of the companies passed to James Howat and his family.

The company name has changed slightly and following minor restructuring, the distillery is now owned by Morrison Bowmore Distillers Ltd., which is ultimately owned by the Japanese distiller Suntory, following their takeover of Morrison Bowmore Distillers Ltd., during 1994. Suntory had previously been a shareholder in Morrison Bowmore for several years.

The distillery is owned by Morrison Bowmore Distillers Ltd, a holding company owned by Japanese drinks company Suntory. Morrison Bowmore also own the Auchentoshan and Glen Garioch distilleries and produces the McClelland's Single Malt range of bottlings.