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Bowmore looks
back at the successes and of course the
whisky of 2011.
 As
2012 kicks off with a flurry of planning
and preparation for an array of exciting
events and activities, we wanted to
share with you the successes of last
year’s marketing activity for Bowmore -
ranging from outdoor experiential
sampling events that engaged over
450,000 target consumers, to Bowmore’s
first foray into the luxury fashion
market.
2011 was a year that saw Bowmore
increase its presence in the great
outdoors. The first Islay Single Malt
kicked this off with a series of
experiential sampling activity which
took place at five of the UK’s biggest
and most popular outdoor events. The
six-figure investment saw the Bowmore
stand land first at Outdoor Pursuits in
Edinburgh, and then travel across the UK
visiting The Royal Bath and West Show,
The CLA Game Fair, Southampton Boat Show
and finally Kendal Mountain Festival,
engaging over 450,000 target consumers
in total. The stand offered guests
complimentary in-depth taster sessions
of Bowmore’s Single Malts with the
Distillery’s experts, allowing them to
learn the finer points of malt whisky.
In addition to the outdoor sampling
activity, Bowmore was sampled by over
10,000 people in 2011 at various whisky
shows, with particular success at
The Whisky Exchange Whisky
Show in London where the legendary
Bowmore 1964 White (RRP £2,500) was the
talk of the event.
As part of its outdoors marketing drive,
Bowmore sponsored the
Bowmore Ben Nevis Challenge
which saw eight teams of disabled and
non-disabled people work together to
scale the UK’s highest peak, in aid of
Capability Scotland, Scotland’s best
known disability organisation. Guided by
ex-SAS officer and TV Presenter Ken
Hames, the teams reached the summit and
ended what was the culmination of months
of training, preparation, not to
mention, hard work and sweat to raise
over £100,000 for Capability Scotland.
The Morrison Bowmore team also received
extra support in the form of team member
Rob Allanson, Editor of Whisky Magazine,
who documented his journey via the
Whisky Magazine and Scotland Magazine.
Bowmore entered the second year of its
long-term international partnership with
National Geographic magazine - the
world-renowned authority on photography
and the outdoors. This partnership
included the sponsorship of the
‘National Geographic International
Photography Contest’, a competition that
invited amateur photographers to enter
their photographs for the opportunity to
win a trip to Islay and see their work
star in a future Bowmore advertising
campaign within the National Geographic
Magazine. This competition was supported
by regional media competitions, as well
as advertisements within the National
Geographic magazines that reach over
250,000 readers.
To further support this activity,
Bowmore partnered with renowned
landscape photographer Colin Prior to
create a series of
Bowmore Outdoor Photography Workshops
which took place at select Whisky Shops
across the UK. These events promoted
through a targeted PR campaign as well
as by the Whisky Shop to their networks,
achieving great success, with each event
reaching full capacity. These
complimentary workshops allowed
photography and whisky fans to pick up
photography hints and tips from a
renowned expert before entering the
competition whilst exploring some of
Bowmore’s unique expressions through the
whisky tasting.
The on-trade push focused on a series of
in-depth tasting sessions and food
pairing evenings called ‘A Taste of
Islay’. These events took place at
premium accounts across the UK including
the Malmaison and Hotel Du Vin group,
Ronnie Scott’s, McQueen and The Park
Hotel Teddington in London. Almost 800
guests paid for this tasting experience
with a Bowmore expert. As a result of
these highly successful events, the core
range of Bowmore Single Malt is listed
at all the aforementioned accounts and
The Park Hotel whisky bar has since been
officially branded the ‘Bowmore Whisky
Bar’ featuring every Bowmore whisky from
the core range as well as the Bowmore
Tempest.
 For
Christmas, Bowmore created a premium
gift package the
Bowmore Tweed Savile Row Experience.
This collaboration with Malcolm Plews,
esteemed Savile Row tailor and Warrant
Holder to Prince Charles, is a bespoke
tailoring session where gents are fitted
with a made-to-measure Bowmore Tweed
jacket whilst having an in-depth one to
one whisky tasting with a Bowmore
expert. The tweed has been created by
the Islay Woollen Mill and echoes the
brand’s heritage and provenance with its
colour palette - blues, burnt orange and
grey. The package, which retails at
£3,000, also includes first class travel
to London, a night’s stay for two at the
Malmaison Clerkenwell, and lunch for two
at the undeniably chic Sartoria
restaurant together with a bottle of
Bowmore 15 Years Old ‘Darkest’ and
whisky glasses.
Memorable Bowmore Whisky
released 2011
 Behind
all the marketing and promotions is the
whisky and 2011 saw Bowmore release a
few very special whiskies.
In May, we had the release of the
Bowmore 1982
Limited Edition. The Bowmore 1982
was the 2nd release in the Bowmore
Vintage Series. Following the popularity
of the excellent
Bowmore 1981
vintage this 29 year old 1982 vintage
proved to be very popular with whisky
enthusiasts.
Again in May, despite the challenging
weather conditions the
Feis
Ile 2011 proved to be the
most successful festival to date for
Bowmore and as is now tradition they
marked the occasion with two very
special limited edition bottlings which
were bottled exclusively for the
festival: the Bowmore 1983 and Bowmore
Laimrig 15 Year Old.
In October we had the launch of the much
awaited
Bowmore Tempest Batch 3. This third
batch just like the two that came before
it is non chill-filtered and has been
aged for 10 years in first-fill bourbon
casks.
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