Diminutive and dashing, Daryl Haldane has the rosy cheeks of a whisky lover and an actorly command over the telling of his subject’s story. It’s some tale – how Bowmore was founded in 1779, the oldest operating distillery on the magical Scottish island of Islay. And how, of late, they’ve been releasing some treasures – whiskies stored in the barrels in their below-sea-level vaults that finally, in limited release, are seeing the light of day.
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The treasures include a series of releases in collaboration with Aston Martin, and another rare 50-year-old release, their Bowmore 1969.
The Bowmore Distillery, it’s widely accepted, went through a golden era in the 1960s. “Like Birkin Bags or Mclaren F1 cars, brands have a moment in time and for Bowmore – and Scottish whiskies in general – the 1960s were particularly special,” Daryl smiles, clearly a fan as well as an aficionado.
We’re in Singapore for the unveiling of Bowmore’s portfolio of collectible high-aged whiskies, a world away from Scotland, where it’s winter now, “or whisky season, as we call it,” Daryl, who is the Private Client Director for Beam Suntory which owns the Bowmore Distillery, laughs.
Trips like this aside, he’d probably be there, in his native Edinburgh, beside a fire somewhere, sipping on a dram of 18-year-old Bowmore.
“The 18-year-old Bowmore is a precursor to the older Bowmore whiskies. You can discern some lovely tropical fruit notes that are just beginning to emerge but that will really intensify in later years, and then there’s that smoldering complexity, with a hint of smokiness…”
“Flavor is a memory. It’s an invocation.”
Daryl was born in Fife. His grandad and his dad were both in the navy, so he grew up on a military base.
“Actually, my grandad, after service, joined the coast guard. He’d do night shifts. On the way home, he’d pick up some fish – occasionally they’d be some smoky kippers. I still call them ‘breakfast fish.’ That was my first exposure to smoky flavors. And Bowmore, even though the smoke is very subtle, takes me back to childhood,” he beams. “Flavor is a memory. It’s an invocation.”
A Spiritual Place
Islay, the southernmost of the Inner Hebrides islands, is almost 200 miles west of Fife off the opposite coast.
Daryl describes it as “a spiritual place.” As proof there is, after all, an endless pilgrimage of whisky lovers to the island.
Currently there are eight or nine distilleries in operation on Islay, Daryl explains, and some more are about to open. But Islay’s global reputation belies its diminutive status – it’s only 620 square kilometers in size.
“That means, on Islay, you’re limited by space. The biggest distillery right now on Islay is the Caol Ila Distillery, producing 3 million liters per year. Bowmore is a small distillery, producing around 1 million litres less than that – especially when compared to Macallan, for example, which produces 16 million litres a year on the mainland of Scotland.”
That’s partly because of logistics, Daryl elaborates. “For Bowmore, and every Islay distillery, it’s a challenge. You have to get casks on and off the island. So, in fact, a lot of whisky is taken off the island and put into casks on the mainland,” he adds.
Everyone agrees it’s worth the effort. The windswept location, nicknamed ‘whisky island,’ is known for producing bold, peaty whiskies like Ardbeg and Laphroaig, but also for whiskies like Bowmore, which in comparison is rich, with some subtle sweetness and only a faint hint of smoke.
Back To Life
Perhaps because of the process at the Bowmore distillery, the flavors of its whiskies, over time, don’t become overburdened with oakiness or drift into a state of suspended development. Instead, each one expresses a lively, one-of-a-kind character.
“Usually, when whiskies get older, they become older versions of what they were before,” Daryl explains. “More wood, more spice, more oak – which is great. Bowmore is peculiar in that we see more of the tropical fruits notes come through as it gets older. It’s remarkable. It comes back to life.”
Hand Turned Malt On Stone Floors
“There are over 140 single malt distilleries operating today in Scotland,” Daryl says. “But Bowmore is one of only eight to continue to prepare the barley in this traditional way where it’s laid out on the stone floors and hand turned.”
So, in a “hands-on, intentional and purposeful process” the steeped barley is turned with wooden shovels every four hours day and night, a process that continues for six to seven days.
Finally, the barley’s germination is halted as it’s dried above one of the distillery’s two kilns. First the smoke billows up – and later hot air – through the mesh floor (and eventually out of the distillery’s iconic chimney) to dry the damp green malt, giving it that barely perceptible aroma of peat smoke.
At the Bowmore distillery’s Porteus Malt Mill the dried grain is ground into grist – or flour – before it goes to the Mash House, where, with the addition of hot water, it becomes wort, a sugary liquid that’s a step closer to becoming whisky. The wort fills one of the distillery’s six Oregon Pine Washbacks – fermentation containers used by distilleries – where the distillers add yeast to start the fermentation. The wash that remains, that resembles a malty beer, is around 8% ABV.
Placed into The Stillhouse’s copper Wash Still kettles the wash bubbles and the alcohol evaporates rising over the stills neck and cooling to liquid again, rising to 22% ABV as it does so. It’s distilled again in The Spirit Still till its collected in Bowmore’s Spirit Safe, where the distillers keep only one of its three parts – the clear but strong Heart Of The Run, that by now has reached 69% ABV. Finally, the clear liquid goes to Bowmore’s No. 1 Vaults to mature.
There, the whisky ages in barrels soaking in the salty Islay air for a minimum of nine years (six more than the standard required).
The Spirit Of Refinement
Naturally, such refined spirits, nurtured over generations, don’t come cheap. The distillery’s oldest ever whisky, the 55-year-old Bowmore STAC, sold for a record-breaking £562,500 at a recent auction – a reminder of whisky’s allure as a collectors’ item.
However, Daryl gives the impression he’d rather see rare whiskies in the hands of a connoisseur over a collector – the kind of person who’d forgoe the cost and open it on a very special occasion.
Unlike other collectibles – like watches, cars or jewelry – whisky has an ephemeral beauty, and it’s not just in the warm chestnut hues of the 29-year-old Bowmore or the rich mahogany hues of the 40-year-old Bowmore, each with very distinct characteristics. You can drink whisky. And once you have, it’s gone forever.
“Look, 40 or 50 years ago, the people who made this, who probably aren’t around any more, would have wanted us to enjoy it,” he decides. “Like fine wine, it will be consumed. So, it’s a decision when to open it and who to share it with.”
Merging Cultures
But inevitably, Daryl Haldane does have the price tag in mind when he slides on some white gloves and lifts the Bowmore X Aston Martin – ARC-52 from its box – one of only 100 bottles ever made.
It’s an otherworldly, sculptural decanter – the TVC to promote its release has it hovering like a UFO above Scottish glens, amid urban skyscrapers and outside the Bowmore distillery itself.
To add another layer of exclusivity, one of the decanters sleek carbon fiber caps was finished in the style of the Japanese technique called Mokume-Gane that gives metalwork – like samurai swords – a wood grain finish.
Incorporated into the one-of-one decanter’s cap, it recalls the rocks of the bay of Loch Indaal, home to the Bowmore distillery, and the inside of a cask, like the one used to age the whisky.
“People ask if we’re rivals with the Japanese whisky industry,” Daryl continues. “But it’s quite the opposite.” In fact, one of his favorite pubs in Scotland, The Highlander Inn in Speyside, not far from the Macallan Distillery, is run by the former Suntory Brand Ambassador for Europe Tatsuya Minagawa.
“I love it. He has such a wealth of knowledge to share as well as an enviable collection of Japanese whiskies.”
Somewhere Between Fan And Aficionado Again
Today, the highly collectible Bowmore X Aston Martin – ARC-52 remains corked. But Daryl does get to share around some of the Bowmore 1969, that’s a surprisingly light, honey color, despite its age.
He swirls the spirit around the glass, before having a taste. “You can really feel that the tropical fruit notes hinted at in the 18-year-old Bowmore have intensified. There’s a little astringency – as you’d expect after 50 years – but the dryness has withdrawn and you get juicy bursts of mango and papaya, and this surprising herbal undertone of sage or even menthol and eucalyptus,” he says, closing his eyes contentedly, somewhere between being an aficionado and a fan again.
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