November 27, 2014

A bag of Bowmore part one

A session that I had kicked off with my friend Oliver a few weeks ago, before I started to notice that I was finding all of them really below par. It wasn’t the whiskies, it was me – and I had forgotten to double-check and calibrate my little nose and mouth. Excuse me, you say they’re both big? Let’s start all this all over again, and try to do that by ascending strengths.

Bowmore 15 yo 'Darkest' (43%, OB, +/-2014)

This one's finished for three years in sherry casks, so it's more double-maturation than a finishing stricto sensu. I think the first versions, back in around 2000, used to be terrible, but newer batches have been much more to my liking. Colour: reddish amber. Nose: starts with big whiffs of bicycle inner tube, new tyres and roasted chestnuts. That’s not exactly rubber in my book. Then more black chocolate, dried seaweed and plenty of tobacco. No wrong note so far. Mouth: good arrival, smoky, briny and full of tobacco and bitter chocolate. It’s quite big, but not stuffy at all. A pleasant feeling of dirt – don’t ask - and then really a lot of walnuts and leather, plus tar and liquorice. A growing sour note after a few minutes, like some black tea with a lot of lemon, as some do ;-). Finish: good length, salty as often, very tarry and somewhat acrid. Comments: it’s really lost the ‘lavender’ notes that earlier bottlings had in their core. Having said that the style is pretty extreme and it’s no ‘clean’ Bowmore. SGP:455 - 84 points.

Bowmore 12 yo 2002/2014 (46%, Malts of Scotland, bourbon hogshead, cask #MoS 14012, 323 bottles)

Colour: very pale white wine. Nose: very unusual for Bowmore, with more cereals than usual, as well as something rather bready beyond the coastal notes. Whiffs of cardboard and beer, a rather discreet smoke and then more seashells. A little plum spirit too. Mouth: clean, straight, pure Bowmoreness. Salted smoked seawater and lemon juice. Zing! It’s really very salty. Good body, easy to quaff if you like this narrow and clean kind of profile. Finish: quite long, curiously sweeter (drops and jellies), with also more salted liquorice, which might not be the most perfect combination. Having said that there are some beautiful notes of pink grapefruits in the aftertaste. Comments: globally very good – which was to be expected from both the distillery and the bottler – but I believe there are (even) better ones around. SGP:445 - 83 points.

Bowmore 9 yo 1998/2007 (46%, Alchemist)

An old bottle so just for the record, although it’s always pleasant to taste one of Gordon Wright’s older bottlings. Colour: white wine. Nose: a more spirity, rawer version of a young Bowmore, with more eau-de-vie (kirsch) and beer, then funny touches of fennel and aniseed. Unusual, that may have come from a ‘different’ cask. Big notes of cut apples too, and a very moderate smokiness. Fresh butter. Mouth: same whisky as the 2002 now, almost. Briny/smoky apple and lemon juice, grapefruits, liquorice, and maybe a drop of agave syrup. Better than the nose, I’d say. Finish: rather long, with a kind of sweet earthiness. Roots in the aftertaste. Comments: it’s got its whacky sides, especially on the nose, but my general feeling is that it’s ‘a solid young Bowmore’. SGP:444 - 80 points.

Bowmore 19 yo 1990/2009 (46%, Coopers Choice, sherry butt, cask #1131, 370 bottles) Sorry no pic. Colour: full gold. Nose: a rather mellow sherried Bowmore, rather on dried leaves, tobacco and walnuts. A feeling of vin jaune. A kind of fresher and cleaner version of the official Darkest, I’d say. No peatbomb. Mouth: again, it’s rather rounded, only mildly smoky, with tarte tatin plus liquorice and a drop of brine. And roasted chestnuts. Maybe a drop of Fernet Branca. Finish: good length, rather smooth. Salted nuts, tobacco and some chocolate. Salted raisins in the aftertaste – yep the small black ones are excellent when salted. Comments: sherry and Bowmore can create some dissonance in my experience – not the case at all here. SGP:454 - 83 points.

Stay tuned for more Bowmore...

Check the index of all Bowmore I've tasted so far



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