Bowmore 38 Year Old 'Flowermore' 1985 Decadent Drinks Whiskyland Chapter Six Single Cask Islay Single Malt Scotch Whisky (2024) 70cl
38 Year Old Bowmore and for under £800! Just incredible. Remember.... when a whisky is older and the ABV is lower it means that more of the 700mls you are getting is not alcohol but the whisky itself.
If you have ever tried Bowmore 18 and want to be truly blown away, ask us for suggestions and this is one of them!
This is a single, refill barrel of an Islay single malt that we have dubbed ‘Flowermore’. It was distilled in 1985, aged for 38 years and bottled at natural cask strength.
As any visitors to Whiskyland will be aware, Flowermore is a curious single malt, renowned for producing some of the world’s worst whisky during the 1960s and early 1970s, it miraculously recovered for a violet-flavoured quality boom in the 1980s. This is one such cask of that amazing liquid.
One of the very best 1980s Flowermore you are ever likely to taste! Soft violets, exotic fruits, intricately detailed peat smoke and less perfume than a branch of Boots that’s been hit with a 50-megaton Tsar bomb!
About Bowmore
Bowmore is located in the centre of Islay and occupies a central role in the island’s whiskies. The distillery has retained its own floor maltings which account for 40% of its needs and when mixed with malt from the mainland results in a medium peated spirit.
Its smoke, reminiscent of beach bonfires, mingles with a distinctly saline note, flowers, cereal, citrus and underneath a touch of tropical fruit. It is this character which, when matured in refill casks for a long period of time, becomes the primary aroma, the peat seemingly disappearing completely.
A significant percentage of the make is aged in ex-Sherry butts which take Bowmore off in another direction – one of dark fruits, chocolate, coffee, citrus and smoke. The extensive range picks and chooses between these extremes. A significant percentage of the distillery’s whisky is matured on the island, with the distillery’s No.1 Vaults being held to have the most extraordinary microclimate. This chill, damp environment – the vault is below the level of Loch Indaal and one wall makes up the town’s sea wall – is seen as ideal for long-term maturation.
There are claims that Bowmore’s distillery started operation in 1779, but there’s no evidence of whisky being made until a certain John Simpson took out a licence in 1816. It wouldn’t be until 1837 when the Glasgow blending firm, Wm & Jas. Mutter took over that it began to gain traction and reputation. In 1841, Windsor Castle requested a cask of Bowmore – this being a time when the English palate was considered too delicate (or Scotch too bold). As often happens, the distillery passed through a number of hands before in this case it was bought, in 1963, by broker Stanley P. Morrison. The Morrison era saw the start of what is recognised as a legendary period in Bowmore’s history – its mid-1960s bottlings are legendary.
The distillery was substantially modernised with an innovative heat recovery system not only cutting down on fuel bills but creating sufficient excess hot water to heat the town’s swimming pool. In 1989 the Japanese distiller Suntory bought a stake in the distillery and took full control in 1994, the year after the ground-breaking Black Bowmore was launched. This 100% Sherry-aged release was sold for what at the time was seen as the ludicrously inflated price of £100.
In 2014 Suntory bought Jim Beam which, from an Islay perspective, sees two of Islay’s most iconic single malts (Bowmore and Laphroaig) under the same ownership.
About Decadent Drinks
"Decadent Drinks" is the name of a Scottish independent bottler of fine spirits like whisky, rum, cognac, and wine, known for its fun, creative, and sometimes satirical approach to bottling, featuring original artwork on its labels and a range of products including its original Whisky Sponge brand and other brands like Whiskyland and Decadent Drams.
44.6% ABV
70cl
