Whisky Craft Bowmore 22 Year Old

Key Facts About This Single Malt Scotch

Bottler: Whisky Craft

Founders: Sonny Charles

Distillery: Bowmore

Age: 22 years old

Bottled: 2026

Region: Islay, Scotland

Spirit: Single malt scotch

Cask Type: Refill barrel

Alcohol by Volume: Cask strength, 52.5%

Bottled: Natural colour and without chill filtration

Outturn: 263 bottles

Bottle Size: 700ml

Bowmore 22 Year Old Tasting Notes

Nose: Smoky BBQ and crisp bacon, with coastal hints and an underlying sweetness of pear drops, fresh pastry and burnt sugar. The smoke is present but not overpowering, sitting alongside sweet barley, tropical fruit, apricot, gentle peat and a delicate hint of fresh-cut flowers.

Palate: Sweet, rounded and creamy, with excellent balance. Medium peat comes through with ripe mango, charred pineapple, single cream and oak spice. The coastal smoke is controlled, allowing the fruit and creamy texture to lead.

Finish: Rich and lingering, with a bold mix of smoke, spice, and subtle sweetness.

About this Whisky Craft release

This Bowmore 22 Year Old from Whisky Craft, founded by Sonny Charles, is a beautifully mature Islay single malt that demonstrates how two decades of patient ageing can transform peat smoke into something remarkably elegant and refined.

Bottled in 2026, this 22-year-old whisky matured in a refill barrel, allowing the spirit to evolve slowly without excessive oak influence. Refill casks are often favoured for long maturation, preserving the distillery’s natural character while encouraging greater complexity and integration over time. In this case, the cask has allowed Bowmore’s signature combination of coastal smoke and tropical fruit to develop into a whisky of exceptional balance.

Produced by Bowmore Distillery, one of Scotland’s oldest licensed distilleries, Bowmore is renowned for a style that sits comfortably between the medicinal intensity of southern Islay and the softer, fruit-led character found elsewhere on the island. Extended maturation accentuates that elegance, with smoke becoming more refined and the fruit taking on remarkable depth.

The nose opens with smoky barbecue notes and crisp bacon, lifted by coastal freshness and balanced by pear drops, fresh pastry, and burnt sugar. As the whisky breathes, sweeter notes of barley, tropical fruit, apricot, and delicate flowers emerge beneath the gentle peat smoke. The palate is rich, creamy, and beautifully rounded, delivering ripe mango, charred pineapple, single cream, and soft oak spice. The peat remains unmistakably Bowmore, but it is perfectly integrated, supporting rather than dominating the whisky's fruit-forward character.

The finish is long and satisfying, lingering with layers of smoke, warming spice, gentle sweetness, and a lasting maritime freshness that reflects the distillery's coastal origins.

Bottled at cask strength (52.5% ABV), with natural colour and without chill filtration, this release captures the full complexity of mature Bowmore in its purest form. With an outturn of 263 bottles, it is a limited release that offers a superb example of how refill cask maturation can allow exceptional spirit to shine.

A wonderfully composed Islay malt - smoky, tropical, and effortlessly elegant, with the poise that only long maturation can deliver.