A suitable verticale of Bowmore


February 7, 2023

A suitable verticale of Bowmore Part One

In two parts, looking for our 600th Bowmore. Today we'll rather focus on the widely available officials…

Genuine Islay oysters, Whiskyfun archive

Bowmore 'Legend' (40%, OB, +/-2020)

This early wee NAS has always been their cheapest expression (which is where all NAS by all brands should sit in my opinion) and it is still very cheap, currently 25.75€ at Carrefour in France but we've seen it below 20 rather recently. Colour: light gold. Nose: impeccable! The purity of bourbon wood, probably mainly refill, with all aromas you'd need from Bowmore, including mussels and whelks, beach pebbles, lime juice, seawater, oysters and a little wool and mint. Absolutely impeccable indeed on the nose, but that happened already with earlier batches, while the palate had been, well…. Mouth: certainly not as bright as expected, but this salty, smoky (lapsang souchong) combination works. Some liquorice wood, grapefruit skin, drops of seawater, lemon… Finish: medium, not short, very briny. The mussels are back. Comments: I might be wrong (who said once more?) but I feel like they've improved the recipe mucho mucho. Will this Legend become legendary one day? (ooh that was lame, S.) To think that I used to have the earlier renditions at 77/78.
SGP:466 - 85 points.

Good, let's see if we find a kind of BFYB, in the style of recent Ardbeg 10/Springbank 10/HP 10…

Bowmore 10 yo 'Aston Martin' (40%, OB, 1l, +/-2021)

Come on, really, an Aston Martin at 40% vol.? That's neither a straight-6 nor a V12, it's more a Cygnet (remember Google is supposed to be your friend). It's still advertised as being 'Dark & Intense', let's check that… Colour: golden amber. Nose: some walnut wine at first, plus horse saddle and old leather jacket, tamarind jam, marmalade, a little spent engine oil (and voilà), then ras-el-hanout and a little ginger tonic. Blood oranges. This rather leathery smoke works well I have to say, even at 40% vol. There's also the obligatory lapsang souchong and cocoa. Mouth: nice salty arrival, with lots and lots of walnuts and a cup of oversteeped lapsang souchong. Some grapefruit then, chicken bouillon, orange zests dipped into chocolate (orangettes), smoked oysters… All nice, the problem is that it would tend to nosedive after ten seconds, and that's strictly because of the minimal strength. An Aston Martin with an empty petrol tank (which is not an unseen situation). Finish: pretty short, what a pity. Some toffee. Comments: I'm absolutely sure that even at 43% vol. this would have been a winner. One solution though, find a young indie Bowie at 50-60% vol. and pour a few drops into this one. I'm sure it'll be fantastic.
SGP:466 - 84 points.

Bowmore 12 yo (40%, OB, +/-2022)

A classic. Recent batches have been good I think (up to 2019, 84 points) even if once again, these 40% feel a bit miserable and pretty 'budget'. Colour: gold. Nose: right, it is a mix of the Legend with the Aston. The salty brightness of the Legend, plus the leathery, walnutty and spicy sides of the Aston. A little liquorice, rubber boots, more lapsang souchong yet, plus funny, infinitesimal notes of tequila… Mouth: drier, saltier yet, this time with olives and juniper, plus something medicinal and 'Chinese'. I mean, some of those fabulous little spicy sauces they have in the Middle Kingdom. Finish: pretty long this time, and very salty. I think we've got the mussels, please pass the muscadet! Comments: very good I think. There must be some markets where they get this one at 43%, no? Italy?
SGP:456 - 84 points.

I have the feeling that they kept cranking up the peat levels, but perhaps am I beginning to hallucinate…

Bowmore 15 yo (43%, OB, +/-2022)

The one formerly known as 'Darkest', a sherry finish that, in my book, never worked extremely well, depending on the batches. Coffee with mustard. Colour: amber. Nose: horse saddle, cigars, horse dung, cocoa, leather, Maggi, lovage, Madeira… It's all well and well, but I believe some aromas are fighting each other. Mouth: it's okay, with salted and smoked chocolate and toffee and all that, but some parts are screeching although, if you give it time, it will tend to display nicer notes of soy sauce. Please bring the sushi in! Finish: medium, on salted caramel. Some slightly dissonant rubber in the aftertaste. Comments: certainly not terrible, even pretty good here and there. The thing is, Bowmore's distillate having become magic again, you could do a surströmming finish on it, it would still kind of work.
SGP:456 - 81 points.

Naturally…

Bowmore 18 yo (43%, OB, +/-2022)

Colour: full gold. Nose: a nose that's extremely 'sweet', jammy, as if they would have used sherry plus rechar. A lot of beeswax and manuka honey (boy that got expensive), toasted oak, some caraway liqueur or aquavit, a small gamey side (grouse), some Spanish ham, cigarette tobacco, muscovado, marmalade, plus, as I had already noticed last time in 2017 (2017! Scandal!), echoes of Lagavulin 16. Must be a very specific kind of peat + sherry combination. Mouth: a great batch, a great whisky, even if this amontillado-type of dryness might not be for strictly everyone. Stunning smoked toffee, milk jam, butterscotch, pipe tobacco, spicy beef soup, bitter oranges… Finish: only the finish is a tad drying. Wonderful salty, meaty aftertaste though. Biltong. Coriander leaves, picante pizza oil, maraschino (really, there's something Italian to this one)... Comments: rather superb. 88 guaranteed next time, if they keep improving it like that.
SGP:565 - 87 points.

We'll have some older OBs later, but in the meantime, some 18 yo indie…

Bowmore 18 yo 2003/2022 (55.3%, WhiskySponge, refill sherry butt, 629 bottles)

Once again, this one's stemming from the mysterious and magical warehouses of Signatory Vintage, I which it's said that only whiskies get older. Colour: full gold. Nose: not that different from the official 18, mind you, except that this one's stronger. The sherry vs. distillate proportions are extremely similar and the general profile is also on… well, Lagavulin 16, and tobacco, and seawater, and more tobaccos, and marmalade… With water: it's diverging, with more mineral notes, metal polish, brake dust, wool, fumes… That's nice. Mouth (neat): some heavyish oak spices at first (ginger, curry, turmeric, cinnamon), then strong honeys, a side that I'll always cherish. Also mango jam and plum wine. With water: oh excellent, it adulates water, as it seems (are you sure you should use the verb 'adulate', S.?) Oysters and peppers and grapefruits, even oyster plant and, in the back of the back, passion fruits and olives. Finish: long and sweet and sour. Lemon juice and bone-dry riesling. Comments: I'll say it again, peat + sherry is never an easy configuration, but this time, provided you've got enough time and enough water to devote to it, it's going to be perfect. By the way, comparison also highlights the caramel in the official 18.
SGP:565 - 90 points.

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