Bowmore
Bowmore is a village and civil parish on the Isle of Islay in Argyll and Bute, Scotland, located on the southeastern shore of Loch Indaal.[1] Founded in 1768 as a planned settlement by Daniel Campbell the Younger of Shawfield to reorganize the estate and provide housing for displaced tenants, it features a gridiron street layout typical of Enlightenment-era developments in Scotland.[2] As the administrative center of Islay, Bowmore is renowned for two defining landmarks: the Kilarrow Parish Church, a unique circular structure completed in 1769 and the only fully round church in Scotland, commissioned by Campbell at a cost of approximately £1,000 and likely inspired by Italian architectural influences; and the Bowmore Distillery, established in 1779 by local farmer John P. Simpson, making it the oldest continuously operating distillery on Islay.[3][1][4] The village's economy historically centered on agriculture, fishing, and illicit distilling before legal whisky production took hold, with the distillery's maturation in the sea-salted No. 1 Vaults contributing to its signature balanced peaty and fruity single malt profile.[4] Bowmore's cultural significance stems from its role in Islay's whisky heritage, where the distillery has produced expressions aged up to 54 years, including rare releases from the 1950s that highlight the island's maturation expertise under saline conditions.[4] The Round Church, with its conical spire and internal dome, symbolizes the parish's Presbyterian roots and architectural eccentricity, drawing visitors for its historical ties to 18th-century estate improvement schemes amid Scotland's post-Culloden clearances.[3] These elements underscore Bowmore's identity as a preserved hub of Islay's rugged, whisky-driven landscape, where empirical traditions of malting and barrel-aging persist against the island's Atlantic exposure.[1]