The Islay Odyssey 2015 Day Seven

February 10, 2015

The Islay Odyssey 2015
Bringing rare whiskies back to their birthplace to open them.

Day Seven, Bowmornography

What an amazing dinner and tasting at Bowmore Distillery on Friday night! Granted, we already had a few stunners during the week, including the 18 yo ‘pear shape’, but that had been a foretaste, so to speak… Imagine, we started our meal (lovely food by the way) with no less than two official 1955s head-to-head…

Bowmore 40 yo 1955 (42%, OB, decanter, 306 bottles, +/-2005)

David’s Bowmore 40 yo 1955 (42%, OB, decanter, 306 bottles, +/-1995)

This one had been first kept in a bourbon hogshead for twenty years, then transferred to a sherry butt for some additional twenty years. Many thanks to David Turner, Bowmore’s very skilful and most engaging Distillery Manager! Colour: deep gold. Nose: fantabulously fresh and fruity, with a lot of ‘immediacy’ and complexity at the same time. Bags and bags of mangos, pink grapefruits, ripe kiwis, juicy peaches…

Whiffs of coal smoke do come through after a few minutes, but the whole remains immaculate. A little brine as well, raspberry ganache (from the sherry?), seaweed… It’s fantastic that it remained coastal after all these years. Mouth: some kind of fruity lace. Peaches in syrup strike first, then e find the expected tropical fruits. Mangos, maracuja, blood oranges… There’s also a touch of fudge, mandarins, more noble smoke, some salty liquorice… It’s all very amazing, the mouth feel is just perfect. Finish: long, and always clean and fresh. It’s rather more coastal than 1960s Bowmores, I’d say, and both the peat and the saltiness show rather more. The faintest touch of cinnamon from the oak in the aftertaste. Comments: just stunning, just stunning. Many thanks David and Bowmore Distillery! SGP:743 - 96 points.

Bowmore 1955/1974 ‘For 12th September 1974’ (unknown ABV, OB)

Revisiting Bowmore 1955/1974 ‘For 12th September 1974’ (unknown ABV, OB)

Courtesy Baron Patrick. I had written before that only 100 bottles had been issued, but higher numbers have surfaced, so it appears that nobody knows for sure. Maybe 200? Anyway, this baby starts greener, grassier, sharper and zestier than the 40, with a lot more rhubarb and lime before it becomes rounder and more tropical. On the palate there’s citrus everywhere plus a touch of salt. The 40 was rather fatter –although it’s no fat whisky at all – while this wee jug is more ‘chiselled’ and citrusy.

As for their respective scores, we could spend nights and nights debating on ‘which is the best’. In truth they’re both utterly splendid. Thanks mucho Patrick! 96 points.

Bowmore 35 yo 1964/1999 (42.1%, OB, for Oddbins, oloroso, cask #3709, 99 bottles)

Sukhinder’s Bowmore 35 yo 1964/1999 (42.1%, OB, for Oddbins, oloroso, cask #3709, 99 bottles)

An excessively rare bottling of one of the famous oloroso casks that also ‘made’ Black Bowmore. Its price was £999 back in 1999. These days it’s ten times more – or more, since one bottle’s just been ‘destroyed’. Ha! Colour: red mahogany. Nose: starts with plenty of blueberry pie, blackberry jam, coffee, black chocolate, tamarind, mango jam… The sherry and the distillate are dancing together to perfection, not unlike Ginger and Fred doing an infernal tango.

The integration in this ‘sherry monster’ is exceptional. A monster that’s anything but monstrous, in fact. After ten minutes some superb notes of old Chambertin arise (black cherries), as well as hints of the most complex Amarone. Amazing. Mouth: sweet Jesus, this is concentrated! Coffee and black pipe tobacco plus plenty of bitter chocolate. You have to love bitter chocolate, but if you do, you’re in paradise. There are rather less tropical fruits in this one, but they do show up eventually. Rather marmalade, in fact. Finish: extremely long, on prunes, coffee, old kirsch or guignolet, and chocolate. Of course. Comments: a big fat baby that’s as lovely as a prima ballerina. Thanks again, Sukhinder. SGP:464 - 95 points.

And another 1964…

Bowmore 25 yo 1964/1989 (49.9%, Duthie for Europvin Bordeaux for Japan)

Emmanuel’s Bowmore 25 yo 1964/1989 (49.9%, Duthie for Europvin Bordeaux for Japan)

I’m asking you, how rare is this? No, even rarer than that. Colour: gold. Nose: some American oak in action this time. Sardines cooked in coconut butter and vanilla. Chocolate covered foam bananas – a hit within Northern-Scottish whisky circles. It’s a rather lightly peated Bowmore so far, with plenty of active bourbon wood. And yet it’s very elegant despite the oak. I also enjoy these notes of patchouli and menthol.

Mouth: quite a fruit bomb this time, but it’s rather less exuberantly tropical than other unsherried Bowmores from the mid-1960s. What’s great is that the peat never stops coming to the front, it’s growing, it’s growing… Which also makes for one of the peatiest mid-1960s Bowmores. There’s also more oak and tinned pineapples. Finish: long, with more fruits again. A friendly fight between the oak and the fruits. Comments: we’re a bit on the oaky side, but the peatiness is pretty spectacular. Older 1964s tended to lose that peatiness over the years. SGP:656 - 90 points.

Bowmore 1965 (95° proof, John MacTaggart, private bottling, +/-1978)

Angus’ Bowmore 1965 (95° proof, John MacTaggart, private bottling, +/-1978)

Another rare bottling within a series that also saw an Ardbeg and a Jura. Probably bottled at around 12 years of age. Colour: gold. Nose: a style that’s very close to that of the 1964 Duthie, with maybe a few more slightly perfumy notes. For example, I find litchis, gewürztraminer, tinned pineapples, as well as a little white chocolate. Nothing excessive though, this works very well. Mouth: an avalanche of soft tropical fruits. Mangos, passion fruits and all that.

There are many similarities with the 40 yo 1955 OB, with just a little more roughness from the oak. Great Bowmore nonetheless. Finish: very long, all on tropical fruits and white pepper. Comments: I found an amazing connection between this baby and a cask sample of a wonderful ‘Tempesty’ 2000 bourbon wood that we had tried in the warehouse with David Turner. Great, great distillate. SGP:654 – 92 points.

Bowmore 11 yo 1979/1990 (58.4%, Cadenhead, dumpy black label)

Tomas’ Bowmore 11 yo 1979/1990 (58.4%, Cadenhead, dumpy black label)

One of the very last black dumpies. This should be quite a palate cleanser! Colour: white wine. Nose: heavy notes of Vicks Vaporub, camphor, eucalyptus, cough syrup, pine smoke, liquorice, sauna oils… This baby will cure any cold! And probably many other diseases. With water: a lot of lemongrass coming through, Schweppes lemon, soot… It’s got something of modern Longrow.

Mouth: punches you in your face and doesn’t run off. Loads of smoked sweets and pinesap drops, pineapple bonbons, then bitter herbs, Fernet Branca… Gets very herbal indeed. With water: becomes very thick, very oily, with sooty lemons and pepper – and rather less peat. And rather more salt. Finish: long, lemony, always very salty. A little ginger in the aftertaste. Comments: a very restless beat. Fatter than others, oily, salty, extreme. Loved it, it followed the old glories without having anything to be ashamed of. SGP:567 – 91 points.

Bowmore ‘Bicentenary’ (43%, OB, 1979)

Bonus: we also quickly revisited the multi-vintage version of Bowmore ‘Bicentenary’ (43%, OB, 1979)

that ‘contains whisky from ten different years between 1950 and 1966’ – as opposed to the 1964. I found it just as fantastic as when I last left it back in 2012. Amazing drinkability, fab brine, tropical fruits, honey, peat, soy sauce, prunes, raisins… All that with a supreme elegance. Thank you Jonny! SGP:566 - 96 points.

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