Six carefully selected rather lovely Bowmore


May 31, 2024

Feis Ile Special

Six carefully selected rather lovely Bowmore

Bowmore

Everyone's taking the same picture, only the light changes (WF Archive)

Because remember this is Feis Ile time. We're actually going to pick a few Bowmores from the library. We're not particularly aiming to sample the latest releases because after all, WF is a tasting journal, not a shopping guide, and we certainly don't do affiliation (strictly no rush to publish about bottlings while they're new or available). Now it's always nice to taste some excellent new releases but are there any such gems in the current 'official' Bowmore range? Quite possibly, but we'll explore that another time. We do love Bowmore.

By the way, I've just come across an old article featuring Big Jim McEwan, published in the French daily 'Libération' when he was the Distillery Manager at Bowmore, back in 1995. Here's his approach to whisky maturation: "The casks are stacked in warehouses by the sea, open to the spray and the winds. Now it's in God's hands, there's nothing more we can do, just wait, ten years, fifteen years..."
What if everyone went back to this method? After all, it has given us some absolutely divine whiskies.

Bowmore 25 yo (53.1%, Jack Wiebers for Formel Lau, Whisky Racing, Switzerland, sherry cask, 2023)

Well, Bowmore and cars. Now some say you could race the brand new Vantage. Hmm… Colour: deep gold. Nose: one might easily conjure up visions of burnt petrol, scorching tyres, and brake dust... But, indeed, while there's a touch of carbon and graphite, it's predominantly the sea water and peat smoke, interlaced with nuts and raisins, that hold sway. With water: a surge of salinity, shellfish, a bit of bacon, kippers, and indeed some tar/tarmac come through. Mouth (neat): rich and fresh at the same time, with very pleasant notes of chartreuse, wormwood, liquorice, candied citron, and oysters... It's much more elegant than expected, and less 'carbonised'. With water: excellent, more lemony, sharp, and decidedly maritime. It likely pairs better with oysters than its counterparts from Islay's South shore. Finish: long, very fresh, this time with a focus on mandarins among the citrus fruits. Comments: it's remarkable how it transitions from a somewhat rugged malt to a far more elegant style. We are very close to 91 points here.
SGP:566 - 90 points.

Bowmore 17 yo 2001/2018 (54.2%, Cadenhead's Malt Festival, Cameron's Choice, hogshead)

We're just six years late. Colour: white wine. Nose: pretty perfect, very poised, dominated by wet chalk, lemon, seaweed, and pebbles. It's impeccably elegant, refined, and with Bowmore's DNA upfront, unmarred by any overt wood or wine influence. We've known since the 1990s that this is a flawless distillate, haven't we? With water: play-dough and candle wax now emerge, as does shoe polish. Mouth (neat): absolute perfection and echoes of the 1960s, featuring grapefruit peel, seaweed, oysters, limestone, and just the faintest hints of icing sugar. It might not be very complex, but it is exceedingly precise. With water: one, two, three, let's bow down. Sublime Bowmorian citrus. Finish: not very long but perfectly fresh. Oh, and that salt in the aftertaste! Sorry, that salinity! Comments: I find that Bowmore is one of the distillates, if not the distillate, that has the most to lose from being boosted by hyperactive casks, which, of course, was not the case here. A high-definition coastal malt, well done Cameron.
SGP:655 - 91 points.

Bowmore 14 yo 1999/2015 (46%, Douglas of Drumlanrig for Laida Weg Hotel, Italy, butt, cask #10148, 150 bottles)

Love these little one-off bottlings that some good folks have selected with care, soul, and heart for their patrons. We're in Rima San Giuseppe, Piemonte here. Google says this **** hotel is closed but Google is only Google. Colour: gold. Nose: this time, it's all about the oils—motor oil, peanut oil, sunflower oil, olive oil… The citrus fruits are more candied but the shellfish presence is unmistakable. It's magnificent and quintessentially Bowmorian. The sherry is utterly discreet. With water: unnecessary, no change other than the ever-present wet chalk becoming more prominent. Or beach sand at low tide, whichever you prefer. Mouth (neat): a smoky and saline beauty. Oysters with a slight greasiness, lemon, and a fine bottle of Champagne. With water: water is superfluous. Finish: quite long, a bit sweeter, more on orange zest. And a well-balanced brut Champagne. A touch of pepper in the aftertaste. Comments: a hotel with taste. I hope Google is wrong once again.
SGP:566 - 90 points.

Bowmore 12 yo 1998/2010 (53.4%, Reifferscheid, Romantic Rhine Collection, sherry octave, cask #378194, 71 bottles)

Shall we uncover a grand Rheingau Riesling like those from Robert Weil or Schloss Johannisberg? Once, I brought home a Schloss Johannisberg Trockenbeerenauslese that had been gifted to me, only to find my then-fiancée had poured it into a sauce while I was away. It didn't stop me from marrying her a few years later. Colour: straw. Nose: a lot of shoe polish this time, limestone in the rain, fresh walnuts (the sherry?), and mild curry. Not really Riesling, the jury's still out. With water: ah, now it might suggest a rather petroly Riesling, more Alsatian, if not Mosellan. Sorry, dear Rheingau. Mouth (neat): oily, mineral, with lots of shoe polish again and marmalade. Marzipan, the sort found in Mozart Kugeln. With water: orange zest, more marzipan... Finish: rather long, with a beautiful salinity but also hints of walnut cake. Comments: it remains top-notch, even if it struggles a wee bit after the previous sharp entries. But what does it matter, it's just a little octave sourced from Duncan Taylor and bottled fourteen years ago.
SGP:655 - 87 points.

Let's leap two decades… (we're carefully avoiding the 1980s, aren't we?).

Bowmore 27 yo 1973/2000 (50.5%, Blackadder, Raw Cask, for Heartland, Ohio, USA, hogshead)

Bottled at Blackadder's preferred strength of 101 US proof. One gets the feeling this should be quite an experience… Colour: pale gold. Nose: it's nearly all there. The main difference from the 1960s is that the exotic fruits are less dominant, while the oily, fermentative, smoky, and mineral elements are more pronounced. Therefore, the early 1970s might have been more peated, which makes sense since the demand for peated whiskies was very high at the time. Nonetheless, these notes of honey, beeswax, and old apples are magnificent. Also included are bandages, camphor, balms… With a splash of water: a slight soapy note that lingers long. Then, citrus peels and candles, both extinguished and burning. Mouth (neat): sublime honeys, beeswax, citrons, tangerines, salted kumquats, clams, riesling (hey?) With water: oh dear, that is beautiful! We're not quite at the level of the 1964 official releases, the Bicentenaries or the Samarolis (Bouquet), but we're approaching that territory. Finish: medium length but packed with waxes, oils, and citrus. Comments: this is so superior to the official 43 yo 1973 from just a few years ago! But then, it's also the distillery that presided over the birth of this other 1973. This is what distilleries generally forget: when an independent is magnificent, it inevitably reflects well on their reputation too, right?
SGP:654 - 92 points.

Moving on to the 60s... If that isn't a trip down memory lane!

Bowmore 40 yo 1966/2007 (43.9%, Duncan Taylor, Rare Auld, oak cask, cask #3318, 164 bottles)

Love these 'oak casks'. To our younger friends, you can't imagine the impact when Duncan Taylor launched a series of very old malts under the Peerless/Rare Auld labels, including these Bowmores as well as Macallan, Glenrothes, Glenlivet, Bunnahabhain, Caperdonich, Glen Grant, Highland Park… Not to mention the Invergordon grains. So, we're quite confident here. Colour: pale gold. Nose: we'll make this quick. Mangoes, passion fruits, pink bananas, and a few very petite flat oysters. Mouth: a sublimely delightful combination of passion fruit, mangoes, mandarins, pink grapefruit, meadow honey, and tiny shellfish, tasted as fresh as possible, straight from the sea. I can't think of what more to add. Finish: its only flaw, the finish isn't totally endless, while there are hints of oolong tea in the aftertaste (but that's not a flaw). Comments: all in finesse, which is also a flaw in a way, as it almost makes you want to serve it as a long drink. That is, neat, but in a tall glass. And with a straw. We'll spare you the little paper umbrella. By the way, in 2006 we had sister cask #3316 at 92, and #3317 at 93. Let's stay consistent…
SGP:753 - 93 points.

(Grazzie mille, KC, Tom and friends)

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