We haven't been in the industry quite that long, but our six decades have been pretty eventful. It's also worth knowing that our distilleries have been around longer than our company - a lot longer, in fact:
Glasgow men who weren't afraid to mix business and pleasure, Stanley Morrison and James Howat form the Stanley P. Morrison whisky broking company.
In 1961, Stanley and James were approached by Invergordon distillers to become the company's UK agents. They agreed, and helped establish the distillery as one of the country's leading blending houses. Two years later, the company purchased Bowmore Distillery on Islay, transforming the company from mere brokers and blenders into fully-fledged distillers.
In 1970, the pair snapped up the Glen Garioch (pronounced 'Glen Geery') distillery, giving them a Highland home to go with their Islay one.
By the 80s, Morrison Bowmore's success was unstoppable, and it turned out to be a pretty fantastic decade. On August 9, 1980, Her Majesty the Queen visited the Bowmore distillery on Islay (her first visit to any Scotch whisky distillery). And that was just the beginning.
In 1984, the business bought Auchentoshan distillery, and one year later the core of the business moved to Springburn Bond - a modern 14-acre site in the north of Glasgow.
New decade, new Chief Executive. Now under the leadership of James E. Forbes , the company began to branch out yet further. A joint venture in South America saw Morrison Bowmore move the focus away from bulk whisky and on to cased goods.
The noughties brought yet more growth for Morrison Bowmore, and, in spring 2000, Sutherland & Partners' "Scotch Whisky Industry Review" listed Bowmore Islay Single Malt as one of the Top Ten Malts of The World. In our view, it doesn't get much better than that.
