Bowmore Distillery

Second time visiting Islay. This time we chose to book a stay at the Bowmore distillery. 10/10 recommend! Wonderful hospitality and amazing amenities. Right in front of the bay, and walking distance to so many things. We recommend taking an evening walk on the trail behind the distillery that loops back up behind the school.

We booked a private event that included the Cask Discovery Warehouse Tasting with Megan, and it was a memorable visit. She was an excellent guide who adjusted the experience to our level of whisky knowledge, making it feel personal and relaxed. The highlight was tasting three different 19-year-old whiskies drawn straight from the cask. Each had its own character and quality you won’t find elsewhere, and sampling them straight from the barrel made it even more special. The bar was another great part of the visit. Their welcome dram is the 19-year-old Festival Release, which is a generous way to start, and we appreciated being able to explore additional drams afterward. Overall, Bowmore offers a well-rounded experience that feels thoughtful, unique, and worth seeking out when visiting Islay.

We had an amazing visit with Evie in the historic #1 Vaults. The whiskey was amazing. And Evie’s passion for the community, island and whiskies gave us a glimpse into the soul of the place. Great visit!

This was the only distillery we did not have a tour set for on our Scottish Routes visit in 2015. I was OK with that as Bowmore is sadly my least favorite of the Islay brands, although I do quite like the Small Batch. We did get into the gift shop and viewed the 150,000 pound bottle in fine Lalique crystal and my travelling companion did go swimming in the Bay just outside (we're Canadian so...). Nice views of the town of Bowmore and across the bay. Would have liked to fit in a tour.

The oldest running distillery on Islay (1779.) I recommend a tour with tasting: they will show you all stages of whisky making: from barley germination (where you can actually use their tools to manually turn the barley) to the distilling and storage. The first part of the tasting takes place in the historical warehouse. If you are doing a whiskey trip - try to book the Bowmore cottages right next to the distillery. Highly recommend.

Beautiful distillery with a very informative and enjoyable tour. The tour guide was interesting and the distillery is gorgeous. She showed us all aspects of the whisky making process from the barley room to the smoking room. The tastings were varied and the final tasting was in their restaurant area where they even served us chocolates! Nice touch! This was one of my favorite distillery tours and I went to many!

The Bowmore tour was really nice. Evie is a great guide and was really knowledgeable about the whole process of whisky making and the history of Bowmore. The size of the tour was great, with only 8 on the tour. A couple of the stand out aspects of the tour is the malting floor and the really old barrel house. Both made the visit unique and made it stand out from some of the other visits I did.

Rob was our guide. He also doubled up as our bar tender, sales person and everything. Rob does everything. Hahahaha Bowmore distillery... u got to treasure this lad. The whisky tour by rob was so informative and sincere. It made us feel so at home and comfortable. Really enjoyed the whole experience.

A fun tour. The grounds are relatively compact, but you can see and learn a lot on their tour. They are one of three distilleries on Islay that malt barley. You have a chance to rake the barley. The tour guides are engaging and knowledgeable. The tour was the only one of the four distillery tours we took on Islay along the water that didn't include a photo opportunity of a white building with the distillery name in bold black letters. There are some interesting artifacts to see in the exhibit area.

Hands down one of my favorite distillery tours. Tour guides are funny and knowledgeable. The tour is about an hour but is packed with so much content for instance the malting floor and the famous Warehouse No. 1. Bowmore is on me if the fee Islay distilleries that still takes part in the in-house malting process. The tour ends in their oldest warehouse from the eighteenth century. This warehouse is special for a number of reasons. First, it is the oldest on Islay. Second, it only matures special and limited releases. Lastly, it houses two barrels gifted by the former Queen Elizabeth. When it came time for the tasting they only give you samples of their core range. Maybe you can try some special releases on a different tour. So I guess I'll have to go back.

Ive been twice. The first visit was ok. We didnt take the tour but considered it until we visited the tasting room and discovered Bowmore to be the only distillery on the island that charges for a splash of any whisky. Understandably, whisky isnt cheap but when compared to their compatriots around the island, its a little odd to charge for a tiny dram when nobody else does. But hey, whatever, it tasted good and we tossed them £5 or so for the taste but opted to not take the tour. Our second trip was much better. They still charge for a taste, which again I understand, but this time around I happened to be on my honeymoon and when they caught wind of it, they were kind enough to gift us a couple drams of their super limited distiller's choice. It was very kind gesture and we were very appreciative. Perhaps visit 3 will include the tour, at last.

I've been visiting Islay my whole life and been dragged round all the distilleries by Dad, uncles and grannies. This is the first time in my thirty-something years I've gone to Islay and 1. Stayed in Bowmore, and 2. had a true appreciation for malt whisky. Because we were staying in Bowmore we saved that distillery for last and unfortunately because it was winter there were no tours going on. Not to worry, they made up for that with free drams in the tasting room. We hung out with the distillery workers who were having a slow day (it was right before xmas), but it was great to talk whisky with them. Discussing our favourite bottles, while enjoying them and the view of the Loch Indaal. In the tasting room they have some great distillery artwork on display and a revolving bottle of the most expensive bottle of Bowmore rotating inside. It's pretty cool.

We were lucky to stay in Port Ellen for a couple of nights, and got a chance to take the bus the relatively short distance over to Bowmore to take a tour at the distillery. Bowmore is a large town compared to Port Ellen. Haha. My husband is a huge fan of the peaty whiskeys, but not being a big whiskey drinker in the first place, I prefer the smooth, more subtle, less peaty flavor I found in the taste offered at the end of the tour here at Bowmore. The tour guide was well informed and we both enjoyed the tour here more than another distillery. Also...it turns out I love the smell of the malt barn. Who knew? Bowmore has a very nicely appointed tasting room overlooking the ocean. It was lovely and we had a nice time chatting with others from our tour.

Their whisky is good, but it's pretty expensive, and so are their tasting offerings. It's very touristy and a lot less subtle than some of the other distilleries. Still bought a bottle of the No. 1, and would have bought their sherry cask bottle if they had any for me to buy.

We did the basic tour and found the guide to be informative, interesting and entertaining. The free dram was served in the tasting bar upstairs, which had excellent views, and it tasted so good that I treated myself to a bottle from the well-stocked gift shop. My only criticism would be that some of the terms (e.g. angels' share) were mentioned in passing but were not explained, so some folk might not have understood what they meant.

Bowmore Whisky Distillery is located on the shores of Loch Indaal on the Isle of Islay in Scotland, producing some of the worlds finest whiskies. The whisky distillery is open tours where visitors can have some sample tipples and find out more about the legend and myths of the island.

We booked the Warehouse tour in Advance and the organisation was really good. We arrived on time and were lucky to see a double rainbow at the seaside in front of the distillery. Quite a good start. Bowmore is one of my absolute favorite Whiskies, so I was really looking foward to the tour. I have done quite a bunch of distilleries in my scotland holidays and the bowmore distillery is a beautiful one. We were allowed to see the maltfloors, the killn and we were even allowed to sip a bit of the newmake. Our outstanding guide was very passioned and relaxed although we asked a lot of questions. The end of the tour brought us to the legendary warehouse No1. A beautiful experience. I have been told by a friend that a handfilled flask would be included the Warehouse tour, that is why we booked it. Sadly at the end we were allowed to handfill a bottle, but it was more than 120€. Quite a disappointment indeed.. I am a big fan of bowmore, but this tour fpor 55 pound felt a bit like a rip-off, especially if you compare it with the Laphroaig tour, which is also part of Jim-Beam Suntory. I can only recommend to do a cheaper tour and spend the money for a bottle in their distillery shop instead. I will comeback in may and give the distillery another chance.

One of the many distilleries on a small island full of them! Bowmore is a small harbour village on Islay - one of the Inner Hebrides. A beautiful village with many good points, the distillery is partially hidden behind other buildings but, approached from the sea. it is the dominant sight. Long white walls painted with enormous black letters BOWMORE it lets you know what is important in these parts! The distillery tour has won many awards from the Scottish Tourist Board and is brilliant. Some years ago, they even made a cd rom including a virtual tour of the distillery - unfortunately, my copy has been borrowed and not seen by me for a long time. At the distillery, they couldn't believe I had a copy as they hadn't! The end part of the tour, with the ubiquitous free dram, explains how there are many varieties of Bowmore whisky, ranging from the usual Legend right up to one which was almost £1000 a bottle. All of it very similar, but with differing strengths and degrees of smoothness. I can also recommend Bowmore as a place to stay as the nightlife exists! Rare for the Isles.

Another lovely tour hosted by our delightful guide Kat (sp). Kat was funny and very knowledgeable. Bowmore is one of only three distilleries on Islay who still malt, peet and dry some of their own barley so it was interesting to see this process again. Following the tour we were escorted to a lovely tasting room where we got the see one of I believe Kat said only three remaining bottles of the oldest whiskeys on the Island, a 1957. We sampled two different Bowmores and had a lovely chocolate.