One of Islay’s iconic distilleries has offered whisky fans a sneak peak of their upcoming rebrand. The updated design will be premiered with two new collections featuring eight unique whiskies.
For the last couple of decades, Bowmore’s bold white labels have been a key feature on the shelves of bars and retailers the world over. Now the brand are completely redesigning their labels to feature black as the core colour.
The move is partly inspired by one of the distillery’s most well regarded releases, the Black Bowmore. It’s something of an anniversary for this legendary expression; Black Bowmore was a 1964 vintage and is therefore celebrating the 60th anniversary of the spirit’s production.
As well as the black colour scheme, the labels will feature subtle linework that symbolises ‘the exceptionally expressive and layered nature of Bowmore’s character.’
Updating their labels is part of Bowmore’s plan to elevate the brand, better reflecting its position as a premium product within the malt whisky market. Recent years have seen Bowmore partner with the likes of Aston Martin in a further bid to establish this position.
Bowmore’s permanent core range featuring the redesigned artwork will be rolled out from 2025. However, two new series will be released imminently that will not just include exceptional spirit but also showcase the rebrand.
Firstly there is the Sherry Oak Collection. As the name suggests, this series will highlight the effects of European oak sherry casks on Bowmore’s spirit. Four single malts aged for 12, 15, 18 and 21 years in a combination of Oloroso and Pedro Ximenez casks make up the range. Each expression is bottled at 43% ABV.
Bowmore say that each of the whiskies in this series will be ‘expressive and evocative’, bringing forth unprecedented ‘multidimensional flavour’ to Bowmore’s house style. Whiskies in the Sherry Oak Collection will retail from £59 to £405 and will be available in specialist and luxury retails from this coming September.
Bowmore Appellations is the second new series and will utilise casks from some of the best wine producing regions, including Bordeaux and the Douro Valley.
This range also comprises four expressions: a 14 year old finished in Bordeaux barriques; a 16 year old finished in ruby port casks; a 19 year old matured in ex-bourbon and pinot noir casks from Burgundy; finally, a 22 year old finished in Sauternes casks.
Selected travel retail hubs such as Changi and Heathrow will sell the Appellations range from October.
Kirsteen Beeston, Bowmore’s director of marketing spoke of the rebrand and the new releases: “We have a duty of care as custodians of this incredible distillery to best reflect and capture the true essence of Bowmore, out of both respect to all that has been achieved so far but equally out of a desire to ensure we honour the spirit as we know it today.
“As such, we made the decision to evolve the world that surrounds the brand, across brand creative, experience, and innovation. This is exemplified by the upcoming launch of two new whisky ranges: Sherry Oak Cask and Bowmore Appellations which, along with the existing range of Bowmore whiskies, will be offered to our customers and consumers in a new brand livery.
“As we look to the future, we aim to redefine what it means to enjoy a glass of Bowmore, transforming each moment into a captivating experience.”
In addition to the aforementioned selected retail spaces, the two new series will be available from Bowmore’s Islay brand home from October.
