A little Bowmore and good


September 22, 2022

Duos: a little Bowmore and good

We've already had a brilliant Bowmore session last month, but we were having a few more, quite possibly none with any heavy wine-treatment, so pretty much al natural. No, sherry isn't wine, it's something else, no? After all, neither should you ever be allowed to add cheese to pasta alle vongole!

(70g.com)

Bowmore 17 yo 2003/2022 (53%, WhiskySponge, refill sherry butt, 679 bottles)

This was the Sponge's 50th bottling, kudos Mr Sponge! Lovely poetic label here, with someone shovelling stars (seemingly) as if it was barley. Colour: gold. Nose: starts with loads of pickled seaweed, or perhaps wakame in brine, before it would rather move towards wee seashells (our friends winkles and whelks – never a word higher than the others) plus almonds, putty and fresh paint. An old boat that's just been repainted. With water: fresh putty and marzipan all the way, seaweed and damp newspapers in the background. Mouth (neat): wonderfully salty, in line with those old Bowmores that were sometimes rolled in the Loch to the puffers. Not sure that was true, but the story is charming. High-concentration margarita, lemon zests, pepper and chillies, ginger, miso and smoked almonds. Really, tastes like someone would have poured a litre of seawater (well, lochwater) into this butt. By the way, in the back, some leaves and leather plus green walnuts, all from the sherry I suppose. With water: a few touches of tropical fruits appearing, which is very Bowmore as well. Finish: long, on salted cold lapsang souchong. Wonderful lemony brine and pure smoke in the aftertaste, classic Bowmore. Comments: just a wee bit leathery/peppery on the palate, that must be the butt, but truly splendid.
SGP:465 - 90 points.

Bowmore 20 yo 2001/2022 (54.8%, LMDW, Artist #20, cask #102)

I don't think this baby is out yet but it will be soon, probably during or immediately after Whisky Live Paris, which will take place this weekend. Colour: gold. Nose: very very very, and I mean very close, just a tad more on mangos and umami. Tangerines, putty, engine oil… With water: starts to diverge, with a purer (yet) Bowmoreness, with ashes, ink, oats, mangos, soot, seawater, oysters, pink grapefruits, porridge, suet, cigar ashes (a whole ashtray, really) and a whole wheelbarrow of kelp. Mouth (neat): ultra-tight, bladey, with loads of green pepper and concentrated lime juice. Then a blend of seawater with a few drops of diesel oil (not much, given the costs of Diesel oil these days). With water: rather sublime, as expected. A little more pepper this time again, zests and fruit skins, tar, salt… Finish: long, greener and a notch bitterer, loses one point here. Dura Lex, sed Lex. Comments: seriously, it is glorious, but we all know that these vintages are terrific, provided some well-mannered casks will have been used, and not any of those pumped-up bespoke 'wine' casks that are to Bowmore what the LM002 was to Lamborghini.
SGP:566 - 90 points.

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