Bowmore and Snarkitecture reveal unexpected parallels between architecture and whisky-making

Some things reveal themselves all at once. Others ask for a closer look. It’s this idea of moving beyond the surface that underpins the Bowmore Captivo Collection, a collaboration between the historic Islay whisky maker and New York design practice Snarkitecture.

The partnership – Snarkitecture’s first with a whisky brand – brings together two disciplines that might initially appear far apart. Yet, for architect and Snarkitecture co-founder Alex Mustonen and Bowmore master blender Dr Calum Fraser, the parallels between architecture and whisky-making soon became apparent: both are shaped by material, environment and time, and both reward attention to their many layers.

Mustonen’s journey from New York to Islay provided the starting point. The island’s rugged topography and the atmospheric depths of Bowmore’s historic No. 1 Vaults informed Snarkitecture’s visual language for the collection, expressed through sculptural, portal-like forms that appear across the bottles and packaging. The effect suggests a threshold: an invitation to look beyond what is immediately visible.

‘Stepping into the world of whisky is a first for Snarkitecture,’ says Mustonen. ‘I drew similarities between how Bowmore’s whisky is made, and how I approach an architectural environment. In architecture, spaces and objects invite people to look again and question their assumptions.’

The same sense of layering runs through the spirit itself. The collection comprises two 20-year-old Islay single malts, each exploring the influence of wood and maturation in a different way. Bowmore Captivo Oak Voyage has spent two decades in American oak ex-bourbon casks before being finally aged in American oak Oloroso sherry butts. The result moves through notes of salted toffee, dried fruit, honey and orange peel on the nose, with the taste of to dark cherry, Manuka honey, candied orange, eucalyptus and toasted oak, finishing with vanilla sweetness and a whisper of campfire smoke.

Bowmore Captivo Sherry Cask Pursuit, meanwhile, has matured in Spanish oak Oloroso sherry and American oak ex-bourbon casks, with an Oloroso sherry hogshead finish. Notes of honeycomb, mango and vanilla custard on the nose give way to the taste of black peppercorns, treacle and spice. Deliciously tropical fruit notes work alongside soft oak, smoked toffee and layers of sweet billowing peat smoke, featuring a long and indulgent finish with hints of charred mango.

Such complexity is the product of precision rather than accident. Bowmore, Islay’s oldest licensed distillery, has been making whisky since 1779, with a measured process spanning traditional floor maltings, fermentation, slow distillation and decades of maturation. Here, Fraser’s blending and Mustonen’s architectural thinking meet around a shared principle: that the most compelling experiences rarely exist on a single plane.

The collaboration will enter the design conversation during London Design Festival 2026, when Fraser and Mustonen will appear at the V&A’s Global Design Forum, on 13 September, to discuss how material, form, craft and environment shape our relationships with objects and flavour.

Bowmore Captivo Collection ultimately makes a case for looking closer. In architecture, as in whisky, what first meets the eye – or palate – is only the beginning.

To discover and purchase Bowmore Captivo Oak Voyage and Bowmore Captivo Sherry Cask Pursuit, visit bowmore.com.

Bowmore Islay Single Malt Scotch Whisky, 50.8% Alc./Vol. ©2026 Suntory Global Spirits Co., New York, NY. Bowmore encourages responsible drinking. For more information and resources on responsible consumption, please visit DrinkAware (UK) or DrinkSmart (US).