Bowmore 1972 Samaroli Sherry Wood / Flowers 1990

A sherry casked 1972 vintage Bowmore, bottled by R.W. Duthie for Samaroli.

Samaroli is perhaps Italy's most revered independent bottler of Scotch whisky. With an impeccable taste in single cask whiskies, and an eye for aesthetics (if not English spelling at times!), he is regarded by many as a visionary. Many of his bottles now occupy deserved sports on the pantheon of whisky greats.

The Flowers series was bottled in 1990, and is a revival of the aesthetic used on Samaroli's acclaimed (if cumbersomely named) 'The Never Bottled Top Quality Whisky Series' from 1981, his first independent series following the Cadenhead's collaboration a few years before. That, and this Flowers series, all feature labels with hand-drawn art nouveau illustrations by Silvano himself.

This is one of two Bowmore in the series, the other being a 1979 vintage.

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 1993. The distillery was bought under the control Suntory the year after (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. The unique microclimate in their iconic No.1 vaults shares very little with the angels, meaning casks are readily available for independent labels like this, many of which are spectacular.

One of 480 bottles.