December 2, 2014

A bag of Bowmore part three

More Bowmore at lightish strengths from the sample library.

Bowmore 1982/2014 ‘Loch Indaal Catch’ (46%, Wemyss Malts, 165 bottles)

I have found the latest releases by Wemyss very impressive, but I doubt they could make anything interesting out of a 1982 Bowmore – the height of the geraniumy years. Let’s see. Colour: gold. Nose: what? Mashed turnips? Lavender soup? Violet-driven perfume? Sour bread? Warm milk? A mix of all of Haribo’s trials and errors? Mouth: it’s not totally horrible, but crème de cassis mixed with liquid smoke and brine is something that is… unforgettable. Well, after one minute, it even gets kind of pleasant. Kind of. What’s sure is that the palate’s much nicer than the nose. Finish: okay, okay. Blackcurrant-flavoured jell-O, pickled onions and peppered smoked tea. Comments: after all, this style has become historical, so these casks are worth bottling. And good news, there are only 165 bottles ;-). I think we’ve tasted (much) worse Bowmores from the 1980s. SGP:554 - 77 points.

Bowmore 15 yo 1998/2013 (49.5%, The Maltman, refill sherry, cask #20029, 278 bottles)

Colour: gold. Nose: it’s hardly fathomable that this baby comes from the same distillery. And yet it’s no clean and tidy Bowmore, and yes there are whiffs of sweets and fruit jams, but those come from the sherry, while the spirit behind all that remains pure, clean, coastal and fruity. Mouth: good mild sherry that blends well with the briny spirit. Balance is achieved. There’s cassis again but that works well now, also cherry-flavoured tobacco (I used to know a brand but I’ve forgotten – old age you know) and then a swimming-poolful of brine. Gets a little leathery, but all remains fine. Finish: long, peppery, smoky. The extra-3.5% really feel. Comments: to be honest, I could do without sherry in Bowmore – not talking about the 1960s, obviously – but this works very well. SGP:566 - 85 points.

All right, time to put an end to this ‘below-50%’ session. Unless we could find one from the 1960 indeed… Hold on…

Bowmore 42 yo 1968/2010 (42.4%, Mo Or Collection, bourbon hogshead, cask #3825, 184 bottles)

Colour: pale gold. Nose: gee-hee-heez. A basket full of grapefruits, mangos and passion fruits. Behind that, lamp oil, almond oil, seawater and barley water. Please take your phone… Mouth: … and please call the anti-maltoporn brigade. An avalanche of tropical fruits plus a wide range of very refined spices plus a little herbal liqueur. Sadly, it tends to become a little drying and tea-ish, that’s the 42 years in oak. Please drop that phone call. Finish: a little short and drying. Earl grey tea. Comments: I guess this great baby was bottled a little too late. Fabulous nose, very nice arrival, but the rest was a little disappointing. So great whiskies of course, and there aren’t many fairly recent opportunities to taste Bowmore from the 1960s anyway, but I wouldn’t say it’s one of the glorious ones. It seems like these times are gone, should there be any casks left, they’re probably… oh well… time flies… SGP:442 - 88 points.

Next time we’ll have stronger Bowmores, including some newish OBs. Tempest, Laimrig and all that…

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