Bowmore Islay Single Malt Whisky has announced the US release of the fifth and final edition of the Black Bowmore 1964 distillation: Black Bowmore 1964 50 Year Old.
The last cask rediscovered of Black Bowmore 1964 has spent an astonishing 50 years maturing in Bowmore’s legendary No.1 Vaults, the world’s oldest Scotch maturation warehouse, making this captivating whisky the most aged expression of the Black Bowmore series.
A mere 159 bottles were produced and released globally. This July, a portion of these bottles will be available stateside as part of the Bowmore 50 Year Old VAULT LEGENDS collection at a suggested retail price of $25,000 (750ml/40.9% ABV).
Black Bowmore 1964 50 Year Old is the second expression in the Bowmore 50 Year Old Collection, a series honoring the rare single malts that were first distilled and began aging in the No. 1 Vaults during the 1960s, an era known for producing some of Bowmore’s most collectible bottlings. The first in the series, Bowmore 1961 50 Year Old was introduced in December 2016 and is no longer available due to extremely high demand.
Black Bowmore was distilled on November 5, 1964, and over the years, has become one of the most rare and sought-after single malt whiskies ever created. With four acclaimed releases – in 1993 (29 Year Old), 1994 (30 Year Old), 1995 (31 Year Old) and 2007 (42 Year Old) – one last cask was rediscovered in the darkest corner of the No.1 Vaults. Having been carefully nurtured by Bowmore’s master craftsmen, the last cask of Black Bowmore has all the hallmarks of a collector’s whisky.
Distillery Manager David Turner, whose Grandfather worked on the original bottling over 50 years ago, said “Black Bowmore is one of those whiskies that are spoken about in hushed tones by collectors and aficionados around the world. To have the opportunity to try Black Bowmore now – at the ripe old age of 50 years – is truly a once-in-a-lifetime experience.”
The unique environment of Bowmore’s No. 1 Vaults has ensured that this sequestered last cask of Black Bowmore has developed a rich and intense yet perfectly balanced flavor of exceptional depth and quality. After 50 years of meticulous maturation in the vaults, Black Bowmore offers a sublime elegance with flavors of tropical fruit and honeyed black truffle complemented by Bowmore’s signature peat smoke notes. With its exquisite deep black pearl color imparted from the Oloroso sherry casks that it was matured in, Black Bowmore 1964 50 Year Old is beautifully rounded and complex.
A refined whisky that is as beautiful inside as out, Black Bowmore 1964 is presented in a beautiful hand-blown bottle created by renowned sculpting studio Glasstorm with cork tops made by Scottish Silver. Each bottle is filled and sealed by hand and encased in a handmade Scottish oak cabinet created by John Galvin of John Galvin Design.
About the Last Cask of Black Bowmore
The tale of the 159 bottles of the half-century-old last cask of Black Bowmore is as beguiling as it is complex.
On November 5, 1964, seven first-fill Oloroso sherry hogshead casks (3708, 3710, 3713, 3714, 3715, 3716, 3717) were filled to mature meticulously in the No. 1 Vaults.
Every cask and liquid has a special aging relationship and, in October 2002, it was discovered that casks 3708 and 3714 were quickly losing their liquid to the angel’s share. As such, on October 23, 2002, these casks were combined into a single cask to preserve this precious liquid.
In 2007, 827 bottles of Black Bowmore 42 Year Old from casks 3710, 3713, 3715, 3716 and 3717 were released. Fortuitously as it turns out, the previously married cask was overlooked and was left undisturbed in the coolest, darkest corner of the No. 1 Vaults to continue its magical aging process.
There the story ended, or so it was thought, until this last cask of Black Bowmore was rediscovered when trawling through the stock ledgers in 2014.
