June 8, 2015

Another young Bowmore extravaganza

Plenty of Bowmore to taste, and frankly, I don’t quite know what we’ll select. Let’s improvise. The only thing I’m sure about, is that we’ll end this session with a super-duper-ultra-rare old one that not many seasoned whisky connoisseurs know about – let alone have tasted. Oh and that question again, how do you build a verticale with these all these new NAS whiskies? Consider they’re 3 years old? Let’s do that…

Bowmore 'Black Rock' (40%, OB, travel retail, +/-2015)

No age, 40%, a dark colour, travel retail… Sounds a bit like a pimped Trabant, doesn’t it. It’s partly aged in sherry casks. Colour: amber. Nose: not a lot, not a lot. Some seawater, blackcurrants, whiffs of bay leaves, orange blossom, seaweed fire, ginger… It’s all relatively discreet, and rather spicy/grassy. I enjoy these notes of dried kelp on a beach, though. A little sandalwood. Mouth: what I find very satisfying is that the off notes that we used to find in the sherried Bowmores from the 1990s or early 2000s are gone, totally gone. Now, this caramel, millionaire shortbread (there used to be a wee bakery opposite the distillery in Bowmore where you could find some excellent Millionaire shortbread, but it seems that they’re not there anymore) and marmalade make it a little thick. But balance is there, and there’s no excessive sweetness, nor is it oaky. In fact, it’s pleasant. Finish: a little short and maybe a notch drying (you feel it on the sides and back of your mouth), but this smoky caramel is good. Comments: not bad at all. Probably not for die-hard Bowmore fans, but no one should be disappointed. A little low in strength, and maybe in peat. SGP:554 - 80 points.

Bowmore 'Gold Reef' (43%, OB, travel retail, +/-2015)

Mainly ex-first fill bourbon. And 43% vol. is better than 40% vol., isn’t. Colour: gold. Nose: American oak. Everybody loves American oak, it’s easy, it’s sweet, it’s vanilla-ed (hence a little regressive, perhaps)… In this case we’ve got a fairly medicinal profile, coated with custard, coconut and warm sawdust. The whole is fresh, just rather discreet and light. Hello? Somebody home? Mouth: cast-iron citrusy Bowmore, more or less the Tempest at a much lower strength. Vanilla, oranges, mandarins, seawater, white pepper, whelks (oh not again!), kiwis, rhubarb, smoked tea. You cannot be against this. Finish: of good length, fresh, citrusy, salty, moderately smoky… Only the aftertaste is a wee bit oaky/drying. Comments: I shouldn’t like this modern thing, I shouldn’t. But let’s be honest, it’s very well crafted and not void of any character. I could sip this – but what’s the age again? SGP:554 - 83 points.

NAS? We also have this…

Bw4 (51.6%, Speciality Drinks Ltd, Elements of Islay, 2014)

Colour: straw. Nose: crystal-clean fresh salty maritime Bowmore. ‘A walk on the beach while some seaweed smoke rises from nowhere’. Oh well you know what I mean. With water: the sea. Mouth (neat): perfect young Bowmore. Perhaps very young. Tropical fruits, peat smoke, sea breeze, and all that. Perhaps even mangos. The 1960s are back! With water: hello citrons, brine, oysters and clams! The mangos are gone. Finish: quite long, very clean very zesty, salty and fresh. Who needs a ticket to the Atlantic? Comments: immaculate young Bowmore. Forget about all that official chitchat about oak or wine, that can only alter an otherwise pristine distillate. Now, this baby’s perhaps a little less smoky/peaty than its earlier siblings. No too sure, I haven’t got them all on my tasting table… SGP:556 - 87 points.

Good, after the NAS, the young ones…

Bowmore 9 yo 2003/2013 (46%, Orcines, cask #20057)

Remember Orcines is a series by Lyons’ very skilful whisky merchants The Whisky Lodge. So, this is a French bottling. Colour: white wine. Nose: it’s a fresh, young, and pretty raw one that’s still got notes of pears and pineapples. That means that the wood wasn’t too active, not obligatorily a bad thing since the spirit has more to tell us in this context. Seaweed, capers, green olives, gherkins, hessian, sauvignon blanc. One to sip on oysters! Mouth: excellent. Sharp, zesty, salty, smoky, coastal, briny… It’s all there, rough and vibrant (what?). Not the best-polished young Bowmore, but the style is perfect and unspoilt by oak and/or wine. Finish: long, zesty, briny, smoky, Bowmore. Comments: a fun one, a wee-tad youngish (pears) – sure its no 1957 or 1966 – but in a way, it’s a highly demonstrative Bowmore. What a classy distillate. SGP:546 - 86 points.

Well, what shall we do now? Go by ascending strengths or favour vintages, which is a little trickier? But are we afraid? Let’s go by vintages…

Bowmore 11 yo 2003/2014 (58.7%, Cadenhead, Authentic Collection, bourbon hogshead, 240 bottles)

I have to say the colour is intimidating… Colour: dark red amber. Nose: Bowmore? Could be Craigellachie, Scapa or Dalwhinnie, such is the oak’s impact. Pencil shavings, cedar wood, cigars, thuja, black tea, tar liqueur, new tyres, fino sherry. The wood’s in charge so far. Very terpenic, I’d say. With water: even more of all that. Partagas cigars macerated in unreduced gentian eau-de-vie. Just to give you an idea… Mouth (neat): what a thick monster! All the Van Winkles would feel naked in comparison, this is extremely extractive, and it even gets bitter and very clove-y. Concentrated bitter oranges. Very, very extreme stuff. With water: you have to get it down to +/-30% vol. to make it approachable, and even then, it still roars like a tiger. Did they cook it or something, up there in Campbeltown? Finish: extremely long, even the Meistersinger feel shorter than this. Comments: a session killer. You just can’t taste anything else – perhaps gasoline – after such a thick monster. In a way, it’s like pastis or ouzo, you can make five litres out of a single bottle. Pretty un-scorable, let’s be conservative… SGP:576 - 85 points.

Well done Cadenhead, this session is over, we’ll have to try again tomorrow. Pfff…

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