Bowmore 1989 Wemyss Malts 30 Year Old / Black Gold

Islay’s oldest working distillery, Bowmore was established in 1779 and is now regarded as one of the most popular malts not only on Islay, but in the whole of Scotland. The distillery was acquired by Stanley P. Morrison in 1963, ushering in an era of iconic single malts, including the legendary Black Bowmore, credited by many as the genesis of whisky collecting, bottled in 1995. The distillery was bought under the control Suntory the year prior (they had been stakeholders since 1989), and it remains one of the most collectible brands in Scotch whisky today. Bowmore is one of the few remaining Scottish distilleries to use its own floor maltings, providing them with 40% of their requirements.

This Bowmore was matured in a hogshead before being bottled by Wemyss Malts.

Wemyss Malts was founded in 2005 by William Wemyss, who had previously been a wine producer in Western Australian and Provence, France. The first Wemyss Malts output was a selection of blended malts, but the company has also bottles vintage independent single malts. These are generally titles with elaborate descriptors, in a similar vein to the Scotch Malts Whisky Society, and are highly regarded. In the 2013 the Wemyss family also bought the Kingsbarns distillery project, which they completed the following year, beginning production in 2015.

One of 175 bottles.