Bowmore 1966 Bouquet

Islay's Bowmore distillery and renowned Italian bottler, the late Silvano Samaroli, are both legends in the world of the whisky. The 1966 Bouquet is the glittering supernova that is created when these two key elements of whisky history collide, at just the perfect moment in time. Regarded by many as the one of, if not the best whisky ever bottled, it is not often one of these absolute gems is brought to market.

The coming together of this cask of Bowmore and Silvano Samaroli is one of those rare, chance meetings that go on to write the greatest stories. The aptly named Bouquet represents almost the resplendent blossoming of the long-growing Italian love affair with single malt Scotch whisky. Distilled in 1966, a golden era in production at Bowmore distillery, and the time when Armando Giovinetti was hard at work pushing single malt whisky in his native Italy. Samaroli founded his bottling company in Rome just two years later, in 1968. Giovinetti believed lighter, younger whisky - the Glen Grant 5-year-old specifically - was best positioned to capture the hearts and taste buds of the grappa-favouring Italian public. The forward-thinking Samaroli had other ideas though. A kindred spirit with his contemporaries at Wm. Cadenhead, he believed wholeheartedly in the bottling of cask strength whisky and Silvano's first releases were a collaborative effort with Scotland's oldest independent bottler. These were released in 1979, and were closely followed by the acclaimed "Flowers" series in 1981, a direct precursor to this, the Bouquet. The "Flowers" series, bottled with ornate illustrative labels (hand-drawn by Samaroli himself) were a sensation and finally provided Samaroli with the platform and audience he knew his whisky deserved, and in 1984, he rewarded their faith in his product with a whisky he felt they deserved, and it is possibly the greatest ever bottled.