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| Hi, this is one of our (almost) daily tastings. Santé! |
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June 2, 2021 |
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The vicarious Feis Ile sessions
Today Bowmore
Celebrating Islay and Feis Ile from Whisky Fun Towers, with carefully selected whiskies from most distilleries, while we're all dreaming of 2022...
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We thought we'd do a big, fat Bowmore session to celebrate their Feis Ile Day, what do you say? We could even try to focus on legendary bottlings that we haven't formally assessed yet, including quite a few that had been distilled in the swinging sixties… Hope this will be rock and roll enough! But let's kick this off 'tranquillou', as we say in French, with some lighter strengths and perhaps some juices from 'those vintages'… |
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Bowmore 8 yo 1993/2001 (40%, Maeda Co. Ltd, 'Islay Prestige', casks #500065, 500066, 500067) 
First time I'm seeing this one I have to say, it's from those glorious days when candid bottlers would still 'cherry-pick their casks very selectively' while 'only choosing the very cream of the crop in the warehouses, valinch and copita in hand', only to bottle three or six consecutive numbers a few months later without even blinking an eye. Colour: white wine. Nose: the early 1990s could be superb. This is a perfect example of some soft all-vitamin fruit juice blended with some seawater and soft smoke… A wee pack of liquorice allsorts straight from the SPAR, then a bag of blood oranges (from the SPAR as well ;-). Blood oranges running the show here after two minutes. Mouth: same combination, with the smoke having grown louder and the sweets and oranges a tad gentler. Rather zests than flesh as far as those oranges are concerned. Good mouthfeel despite the lower strength. Finish: the expected saltiness kicking in. Comments: very good and extremely sippable. This on scallop sandwiches, on the pier… In any case, a good example of the return of classic Bowmore after the unlikely 1980s…
SGP:655 - 87 points. |
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Bowmore 8 yo 1993/2001 (40%, Maeda Co. Ltd, 'Islay Prestige', casks #500065, 500066, 500067) 
Not sure about the company behind this, but 1993 has proven to be quite a brilliant vintage at Bowmore. Colour: white wine. Nose: beautiful nose! Typically fresh and balanced between soft exotic fruits and gentle coastal freshness. Lots of chalk, wet rocks, white flowers, wool and crystalline minerality. Some quite specific notes of lemon peel and mango come through over time. Charming and very beautiful with bags of distillery character. Mouth: the strength is a clear issue here as it feels rather fragile in the mouth. Those fruits and coastal aspects are all there but they really do feel diluted. There's also a touch of cardboard and damp grains. Still good but you can tell this one has been somewhat hobbled. Finish: short, drying, some smoked cereals and mineral oil. Comments: I can't help but feeling some kind of crime was committed with this bottling. Above 46% and this would probably be easy 90+ material, the nose alone was at that level. But the palate feels undeniably diminished. Now, it's still a perfectly quaffable wee Bowmore.
SGP: 544 - 84 points. |
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Bowmore 30 yo 1988/2019 (46.2%, Hunter Laing, The Kinship, refill bourbon hogshead, 644 bottles) 
1988… Lavender si or lavender no? And Parma Violets si or Parma Violets no? Colour: light gold. Nose: totally 'si' on all accounts. Lady's moisturizer and violet and lavender sweets, night cream, entering a L'Occitane airport shop, then more tropical fruits, maracuja, tangerines, papaya, litchi… A wee glass of Calif' gewurz too. Boy is it fragrant! Mouth: extreme on all accounts indeed, on the palate as well. Huge perfumy notes, more Parma Violets, a whole bowl of ground Himalayan pepper, a blend of gewurz, muscat and viognier (don't try this at home or drink at 6°C), and only some very moderate salt and smoke. Finish: long, with a little more seawater, pepper, and salted lemon. Comments: textbook example. It is very hard for me to score this style, which is not my preferred as you may have guessed, on the other hand it is perfect in its very own genre. A must have if your goal in life is to document all styles of malt whisky that have ever been produced. In short, this score means nothing, even less when communicated out of context.
SGP:753 - 80 points. |
While we're doing violets and lavender… |
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Bowmore 30 yo 1988/2019 'Outlined in Chalk' (50.9%, Wemyss Malts for Spirit Salon, Hong Kong, hogshead, 177 bottles)
Colour: straw. Nose: this one's much more on tropical fruits, tangerines, mangos, passion fruits, guavas, all-vitamin fruit juice… No more lavender here, as if the distillation regime had been completely different. So much closer to the 1993 than to the other 1988 as far as the nose is concerned. With water: tropical bonbons, foam bananas, litchi buttercream with meringue, Zacapa (err..) … Mouth (neat): yeah, the lavender is back on the palate, the violets, the pink pepper, the soapiness… And it's pretty huge. I understand some friends love this style, which is just great. Always tangerines… With water: a wee dustiness, otherwise hand cream and indeed, Parma Violets. Finish: medium, on the same notes. Comments: schizophrenic Bowmore, with the nose in the early 1990s and the palate in the mid-1980s. Some kind of Bee Gees of malt whisky, perhaps. Very little 'peatiness'.
SGP:752 - 81 points. |
Perhaps some younger ones before we take the plunge? |
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Bowmore 2000/2017 'Hand-filled' (56.9%, OB, first Fill Sherry Puncheon, cask #2495)
Sweet Vishnu, is this dark! This is what they sometimes give you at the distillery whenever you're asking for coffee. Sadly, no. Colour: coffee with bronze hues. Nose: more metal polish than in metal polish. There was one that we used on our bikes and that was called Glanzol. Then the thickest sweetened oyster sauce, Bulldog sauce, PX blended with used engine oil, and rotting damsons. Crazy stuff but it is not a first at Bowmore's. With water: huge notes of walnut stain, then chicken broth, chives, sherry vinegar, walnut wine… Pretty spectacular and while it's clearly 'too much', I kind of enjoy this. Mouth (neat): as we were expecting, some chocolate sauce, something between balsamic vinegar (it is vinegary) and sour cherry juice, a very unusual kind of tar (coal tar plus?) and some pickled fruits, perhaps plums, certainly little onions, onion soup, brown sauce… With water: don't add any, it would go in all directions. Onion soup and chocolate, anyone? Come on, 56.9 only equals 100 proof, water is unnecessary here. Finish: long, salty, tarry, soupy, bitter, peppery, ultra-leafy, muddled. Comments: I've heard there's even malt whisky inside. Seriously, it's a spectacular dram but maybe not for everyone.
SGP:376 - 82 points. |
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Bowmore 18 yo 2002/2020 (53%, Wu Dram Clan, bourbon, cask Z2/20201, 175 bottles) 
Lovely Jules-Verne-style label. Remember 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea? Colour: white wine. Nose: naturally. Small flat oysters, seawater, softer tar, smoked salmon (and burning beech wood), green bananas, citrons, beach bonfire, sage, aniseed… Perfect this far. With water: classic 'coastal peat'. Kelp, kippers, a fisherman's old pipe, etc, etc, etc. Mouth (neat): yet another style of Bowmore, which I would rather call 'smoked citrus'. Really a lot of pink grapefruits and blood oranges, some tequila and some gin (really, with apologies to you all), then rather angelica and caraway. With water: I insist, some citrusy gin! What would you say Mr. Bond? Finish: medium, with some aromatic herbs, rosemary, thyme, more pink pepper… I'm finding some tiny echoes of the 1980s, but no worries, we're totally safe here. Comments: I find this proposition excellent, despite a few charmingly wobbly sides. Bowmore's not always straightly classic, mind you.
SGP:455 - 88 points. |
To think that all that was only the apéritif… Let's unearth the oldies!... |
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Bowmore 'Over 12 Years' (OB, for Japan, 1970s?)
A very intriguing wee bottle that, in the own words of our friend Emmanuel, 'looks fake but is 100% real'. No strength stated here, while it's not quite a full-size bottle. It wouldn't say, but let's guess 50cl? Colour: gold. Nose: 'echoes of a distant past', really, that's not just a figure of speech. Would you imagine a very old bottle of citron liqueur, some musty old books, some stewed artichokes and eggplants, a wee bit of black truffle, some soot, the engine of a very old car, and just an old white wine that grandpa had, rather mistakenly I have to add, stored under the telly? This is it and I rather love it. Mouth: much power and assertiveness, I would guess 46% vol.? Some fruity soups, more artichokes, miso and umami soup and sauce, salty broth, cold fish chowder, then some much clearer, cleaner, tarter notes of citrus. Pomelos, I would say. Finish: medium, meaty, perhaps not spectacular but this feeling of old forgotten liqueur is always a thrill. The aftertaste is a tad dusty-ish but we officially declare that we shan't care. Some fudge too, which comes unexpected. Comments: a slightly fragile old Bowmore, from a bottle that's probably seen many lives, generations and perhaps even fights. It is like a very old watch; you wouldn't expect it to tell the time to the minute.
SGP:552 - 89 points. |
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Bowmore 'Over 12 Years' (OB, for Japan, 1970s?) 
A super-rare wee half bottle that was done for Japan most probably in the 1980s. I already wrote notes for this one a few years ago while 'on location' in Japan. Which now seems like about a thousand years ago, but that's another story. Let's see how this one from a different bottle compares. Colour: deep gold. Nose: a more farmyard driven and smoky style. Not at all contemporary but rather more towards the mid-70s style than the earlier fruit bombs. Having said that, I do find notes of dried fruits, fruit teas and things like cheng pi orange peel, earl grey and dried mango. A little resinous sherry, vegetable stocks and some earthy and savoury umami notes. Mouth: wonderful texture on arrival, lots of orange oils, camphor, leathery sherry, cured meats, coffee, some natural tar, hessian. Could almost be an old Laphroaig in some ways. Some slightly dirty peat, metal polish, sooty notes and more camphor. The fruits are still there but more liqueurish now and secondary to the sherry. Finish: medium, peat smoke, coal embers, medicines and some more herbal qualities. A nice peaty / sherry glow in the aftertaste. Comments: It does seem to sit somewhere in a transitionary style between fruit, peat and sherry influences. A fascinating and very cool old Bowmore that feels a tad fragile at times but still has many stories to tell. I still like it as much as the last one I tried, so same score.
SGP: 454 - 89 points. |
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Bowmore 1969/1979 'Bicentenary' (56.2%, OB, Fecchio & Frassa for Biancalana Francesco, sherry, cask #322, 300 bottles) 
This series is a little bit complicated, some cask numbers having appeared for several owners. What's sure is that we just won't care since all these 'flat' bottles have been absolutely flabbergasting every time we've tried any. Oh and a little bit of mystery won't kill us anyway… Colour: full gold. Nose: huge, massive, imposing, starting with camphor, triple-sec, and just any kind of smoke you could think of. Wood, peat, seaweed, rubber, tyres, perhaps even plastic. Then dried figs and raisins, old wines, polishes, herbs, mosses, embrocations, balms and ointments. Holy featherless crow! With water: oh, marrow, ham, smoked fish, cigar ashes, citron liqueur, old Comté cheese, a glass of vin jaune of course, then some tiny vinegary touches that work perfectly well. Very old balsamico. Impressive nose, very long, Netflix could shoot a whole series about this nose. Mouth (neat): very creamy, thick, without any single sign of tiredness (after all, this was bottled more than 40 years ago) and rather, or mostly on waxy citrus. Rubbing grapefruit peel and infusing herbs from the woods. Woodruff? That's my favourite. With water: I won't go to 95 because I'm finding it a wee tad too sweet, too jammy. They call me Mister Never Happy for a reason. Finish: salty and sweet. Foie gras with mascarpone, yuzu and truffles. Mix well and enjoy. Comments: not too sure about that part with foie gras, mascarpone, yuzu and truffles. It was a joke. But brilliant Bowmore, as expected.
SGP:655 - 94 points. |
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Bowmore 1969/1978 (58%, OB, Fecchio & Frassa for various Italian individuals, sherry cask, cask #6639)
This is the round bottle, not the flat one. It's not a matter of hope anymore, it's a matter of evidence. Colour: white wine. Nose: Bowmore Bouquet, anyone? Same ballpark, with this astounding purity, these grapefruits, these embrocations, these waxes and these inks and ashes. It is not a matter of what's in here, it's a matter of balance. With water: iron, old tools, shoe polish, rhubarb, whelks, lemon, winkles, oysters, kelp, old copper coins, grapefruits. Mouth (neat): it is not whisky, it is light, it is music, and it is philosophy. Incredible avalanche of citrus, waxes, and tiny herbs and flowers. Borage, verbena, wormwood and 'stuff'. With water: salt, pepper, wax, citrus, camphor… and myriads of tiny flavours that we could try to list but there are only twenty-four hours in a human day. Finish: tighter, more austere, ashy, smoky, mineral. Amazing aftertaste on meats, soups and chartreuse. Comments: grand, legendary whisky. I'm not sure anyone would know how to replicate this style, and perhaps is it better like that. What's dead sure is that it's got strictly nothing to do with wood.
SGP:565 - 96 points. |
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Bowmore 1966/2002 (42.3%, Duncan Taylor for Whiskyfreunde Essenheim, cask #3305, 120 bottles)
This one from when Duncan Taylor were having all those old ex-Abe Rosenberg casks that were so flabbergasting. Glenlivets, Glen Grants, Caperdonichs, Macallans… And Bowmores. Colour: gold. Nose: take mango, papaya and banana, press, filter, nose. Incredibly simple and stunning. Mouth: amazing fruitiness, you would even start to wonder if it is at all possible to bring these kinds of flavours and aromas out of barley. And you would answer 'yeast!' and you would probably be right. Incredible notes of fresh mangos and pink grapefruits. Finish: medium, very fruity, sweet, juicy. Comments: you know, it's simple whisky, there's nothing complicated or 'philosophical' in there, it is just plain fruity make that you just cannot question. In the same cluster as that of old Bushmills, or there, Benriach. Oops, forgot to mention juicy pink peaches. This is what we used to call 'a fruit bomb'.
SGP:742 - 93 points. |
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Bowmore 1966/2002 (42.3%, Duncan Taylor for Whiskyfreunde Essenheim, cask #3305, 120 bottles) 
Colour: deep gold. Nose: now we're talking! This same impression of a singular and deeply exotic 'fruitiness' that is so inimitably 'Bowmore', only here it is more concentrated and direct. It also takes in pine resin, long aged herbal liqueurs, natural tar, heather honey and the most delicate thread of peat smoke. Sublime whisky that you could nose for hours. Mouth: slightly soft arrival but the waves of sweet exotic fruit syrups, cough medicines, herbal liqueurs and hints of smoked olive oil, hessian and natural tar that build up after that is just beautiful. A perfect mix of medicines, herbs, honeys and fruits, wonderfully concentrated, syrupy and evolving with great length in the mouth. Finish: long, all on old Cointreau, bandages, limoncello, tar, camphor, menthol tobaccos and fir wood. Comments: slow moving at times, but hugely rewarding with patience, and the nose is to die for! Probably would have been even better bottled 2-5 years earlier, but this is definitely nit picking.
SGP: 753 - 92 points. |
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Are we ready for a last one? |
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Bowmore 25 yo 1965/1990 (43%, Hart Bros. for Auxil France)
As they always did, the brothers Hart would not have told you much about what was in their bottlings. But hey, how cool is this label? An old Scottish painting, isn't that better than dragons, tigers, cartoon characters or pinups that fell from the sky? I see we agree here… Colour: gold. Nose: all-vitamin fruit juice and crushed aspirin tablets. Nectarines, oranges, pomegranates, sunflower oil, chalk, khakis. It is a different combination, rather less tropical as far as fruit are concerned, but no less wonderful. Very distant touches of Italian white truffles. Well not that distant actually, these notes of white truffles tend to come to the front. Also a great Chablis, such as this wee premier cru on the left bank that I really like in cold years, Côte de Léchet. Mouth: well well well, time took its toll. Whether that happened in the cask, which I doubt, or in the bottle, which is most probable, well, that stunning nose went awfy awry, with notes of plastic and carboard that have really taken over. A shame because peaches and pink grapefruits are still there in the background, tr0ying to have their say. Finish: short, cardboardy, flat. Comments: but what a nose, for crying out loud!
SGP:341 - 80 points. |
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Bowmore 25 yo 1965/1990 (43%, Hart Bros. for Auxil France) 
Colour: pale gold. Nose: immediate and abundant notes of passion fruit, mango and guava. Also pineapple. They've taken on this quality where they fuse together into a single 'exotic fruit note', to Lilt and Umbongo you could add '60s Bowmore'. Some other extremely fragrant wee aromas such as sandalwood, coastal flowers and heather. I also start to get a very light soapy quality over time, but it's pretty slight. Mouth: a gentle arrival, dominated by soft, sweet exotic fruit syrups, nectars, delicate medicines and still this very slight but pervasive soapiness - seems it wasn't only in the 1980s this characteristic appeared. Some nice notes of mead and sweet cough medicine too. Perhaps a tad soft because of the lower ABV though. Finish: good length, a little drier, more peppery, medicinal and with the fruits more crystallised in style. Comments: Some parts are just stunning, but on balance the ABV and this funny wee soapy note that keeps popping up prevent this one going higher. Perhaps it was my sample, I know some other folk rate this one very highly.
SGP: 754 - 85 points. |
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(Merci a lot Angus, John, KC, Lin and Tim) |
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