Is it worth the price?
BOWMORE 18 Years Old is an Islay single malt Scotch from the Bowmore distillery, bottled at 18 years old. Tasters score it 4.5 out of 5 across 2 reviews. It is tracked at 4 retailers, ranging from €104.95 to €169.00, while the valuation model estimates a fair price of around €163.53. That is 0.98× the model estimate — almost exactly what its age, strength and house predict, with no meaningful brand premium. The estimate is fitted on age, bottling strength and the distillery's other prices; community ratings add no measurable signal to it, so this is not a quality judgement. Typical error is around ±65%, so read the verdict as indicative and trust it most at the extremes. It is one of 5 Bowmore bottlings priced here; the others are compared below.
Retailers tracked
| Retailer | Price |
|---|---|
| topdrinks | €104.95 |
| whiskylodge | €159.00 |
| thewhiskyshop | €161.54 |
| whisky.fr | €169.00 |
How we got this number
The valuation model predicts a price from this bottling's inputs. The multiple is the actual market price divided by that prediction.
- Rating
- 4.50 / 5
- Age
- 18yo
- Region
- Islay
- Distillery tier
- Mid Label only — set from the distillery’s median price, not used by the model.
- Predicted price
- €163.53
- Actual price (median)
- €160.27
- Multiple
- 0.98×
- Verdict band
- fair value (0.80× < … ≤ 1.20×)
Methodology estimate
The deterministic model from methodology.md: production cost per litre × bottle size, plus maturation cost per year, plus a cask premium, times an ABV factor — then multiplied by a quality grade summed across six 0–3 axes.
- Production (€0.18/cl × 70 cl)
- €12.60
- Maturation (18 × €1.20/year)
- €41.35
- Cask premium (undeclared)
- +€0.00
- × ABV factor
- ×1.08
- Cost floor
- €58.00
- Process distinctnesspartial estate barley / floor malting on site; partial floor malting; sea-warehouse maturation2 / 3
- Cask provenancecask type not declared on bottle; partial single-estate malt0 / 3
- Bottling integrity43.0% ABV; chill-filtration not disclosed; E150a caramel colouring not disclosed1 / 3
- OwnershipBeam Suntory — production-led corporate1 / 3
- Heritagefounded 1779 (247 years of operation)3 / 3
- Reputation4.5/5 across 2 reviews2 / 3
- Quality score
- 9 / 18
- Quality multiplier
- ×1.75
- Intrinsic value
- €101.50
- Actual price (median)
- €160.27
- Multiple
- 1.58×
- Verdict band
- mild premium
Maturation context
Islay · rolling 12 months: 1,849 mm at Dippen (53 km). Scotland W rolling 12-month rainfall2,451 mm, +33.70% vs 1995-2024 median.
Other bottlings from Bowmore
- BOWMORE 12 Years Old €37.75 · 0.66×
- BOWMORE 15 Years Old €88.50 · 0.73×
- BOWMORE 12 Years Old Sherry Oak Cask €60.35 · 0.93×
- BOWMORE 21 Years Old 1988 €490.00 · 1.43×