We first did a Laphroaig/Bowmore event with Matt Jones way back in 2018, and as many members love these brands, we felt it time for a revisit 7 years later!

Working with James Neil and Mike Mclean of Beam Suntory, we pulled together an incredible line-up for both brands.

We started with a trio of Bowmore 15 expressions, all showcasing different styles of sherry influence. We started with the current core range 15, tasted a legacy bottling of the old Bowmore 15 Darkest which we got our hands on and was a favourite for many with its deep dried fruit and viscous mouthfeel, and finished off with the brand new sherry matured 15 which had a ton of brighter fruit notes compared to the others.

Then we moved on to the Laphroaig line-up. We picked up an older bottling of Quarter Cask, probably bottled closer to the time of our founding in 2016 or so. Mike brought a current bottling of the batch 17 Laphroaig Cask Strength, and we kicked off this element with a bottle we’ve been holding onto for a few years – the Laphroaig 25 Bessie Williamson edition.

This beauty comes with an incredible book-like package that tells about Bessie’s impact not just on the Laphroaig distillery as its owner and manager in the early 1900s, but also her impact on promoting single malts and Islay malts around the world. An incredible bottling celebrating an even more incredible woman!

Here are some more pics of the event, taken by TWS member and photographer extraordinaire, Leemarc Lao!