Bowmore 12 Year
Bowmore distillery was founded in 1779 by John P. Simson before ownership passed to the Mutter family, who held it until the distillery closed in 1915 for ten years, before being purchased and passing through various hands during the 20th Century before falling under a subsidiary of the current owner, Bean Suntory. This conglomorate has a vast spirits portfolio that includes, just in Scotland, the Ardmore, Auchentoshan, Bowmore, Glen Garioch, and Laphroaig distilleries, along with producing the McClelland’s single malt range. It has an annual production capacity of two million liters and the waste heat from the distillation process heats a nearby public swimming pool built in a former warehouse. Through a combination of longevity of operations and careful management, Bowmore currently houses the oldest and most diverse set of whiskies on Islay. The Bowmore 12 is the benchmark of the distillery’s core range, and features maturation in both ex-bourbon and ex-sherry casks.
Laphroaig Càirdeas 2023
Laphroaig has been creating Càirdeas (Gaelic for “friendship”) expressions since 2008, experimenting with with cask finishes or cask strength versions of older offerings. The Càirdeas 2023 is unique in that it combines two different casks not often seen in whisky maturation. Three quarters of the scotch is aged in second-fill Madeira casks. Madeira is a Portuguese island famous for producing fortified wine. The remaining quarter of the scotch is matured in first-fill port casks, the majority of which were of white port. Port is a fortified wine from the Duoro valley of Portugal, and white port uses white wine grapes instead of red. Therefore, this Càirdeas represents influences from multiple Portugeuse fortified wines.
Old Pulteney 15 Year
Old Pulteney was founded in 1826 by James Henderson and names after Sir William Pulteney. Currently owned by Inver House Distillers, which is itself a subsidiary of international beverage company ThaiBev. As such, Old Pulteney is under the same umbrella as the Balblair, Balmenach, Knockdhu and Speyburn distilleries. The distillery has the capacity to produce up to a million liters of spirit a year and almost all of that seems to go into their single malts, a majority of which are still age statements today. They had a foray into more No Age Statement (NAS) offerings years ago that did not make the impact they hoped, so the brand relaunched with age statements again a priority. The Old Pulteney 15 is double matured, though no further details are given to indicate if it is a true blending of fully-matured single malts or more a case of finishing without calling it such.