Bowmore

Licensed in 1779, Bowmore is Islay's oldest distillery and still turns a third of its malt on a working floor maltings. Its position — peated, but at half the intensity of the south shore — makes it the island's great diplomat: smoke, certainly, but woven through tropical fruit, sea air and sherry. Its legendary No. 1 Vaults, below sea level, have produced some of the most valuable whiskies ever auctioned.