Queen to launch largest navy ship with whisky

Her Royal Highness Queen Elizabeth II will formally name the Royal Navy’s largest ever ship with a bottle of Bowmore Single Malt Scotch Whisky.

Replacing the more traditional custom of smashing a bottle of Champagne on the side of the ship, The Queen will launch the brand new HMS Queen Elizabeth Aircraft Carrier from Rosyth Naval Dock yard in Scotland by smashing a bottle of Bowmore The Taste of Islay against the carrier.

The Queen visited Bowmore distillery on 9 August 1980 and was the first and only distillery visit Her Royal Highness has made to a whisky distillery in an official capacity.

A special cask of Bowmore Whisky was laid down in Queen Elizabeth’s name upon her visit almost 24 years ago, which is today handed out by The Queen as a gift to visiting royalty and dignitaries.

“We wouldn’t generally recommend smashing a bottle of Bowmore, but given our special relationship with Her Majesty, we were delighted to make an exception on this occasion and be a proud part of the launch ceremony,” commented Mike Keiller, CEO of Morrison Bowmore Distillers.

A bottle of Bowmore ‘Surf’ will also be presented to the Lord Mayor of London at a Naval Dinner, in London next Tuesday.

Keiller and David Raines, master of the Worshipful Company of Distillers, will also attend the dinner.