Bowmore 27 yo 1973/2000 (50.5%, Blackadder 'Raw Cask' for Heartland, USA, hogshead, 244 bottles)
Colour: pale gold. Nose: it's honeys and waxes that strike first, giving an almost deceptively 'highland' character at first nosing. But then we're going towards a more coastal profile, full of fragile, drying peat notes, seashells, grapefruit and then mango and passionfruit - we've arrived at old Bowmore, in other words. With water: more fragrant and slightly farmy now too, with cider apple, dried flowers, soft herbal notes, camphor and pollens. Mouth: same feeling that this is an earthier, waxier and marginally less fruit-driven profile, which seems to the case for these early 1970s years. There are still some wonderful fruity components that suggest dried exotic fruits and tropical teas, but that's balanced by tiny hints of sandalwood and lavender soaps, gorse flower, mineral salts, crystallised old honeys and a really fantastic waxiness, of both flavour and body. With water: stunning honeys and waxes, dried exotic fruit chunks, sandalwood, lightly smoked sea salt and citrus peels. Finish: long and back onto these earthy waxy and honeyed qualities, with tiger balm and bone-dry peat smoke whispering in the background. Comments: these vintages are a little overshadowed by the 1960s, understandably, but they remain utterly captivating in their own right. 
SGP: 663 - 92 points. 

Bowmore 23 yo 1972/1995 (54.7%, The Whisky Connoisseur 'Cask Master Selection No.2', cask #909)
Colour: pale straw. Nose: much sharper, greener, narrower, on seawater, rock pools and something ever so slightly chemical. Like some kind of gooseberry flavoured Haribo! Gets saltier with time, becoming more umami with things like squid ink and anchovy paste. With water: wood ashes, cement, crushed aspirin, seaweed crackers - a bit tight and closed surprisingly. Mouth: rather narrow again, and quite pushy, with pure seawater, petrol and lemon juice on fresh oysters. Elements of this profile are more suggestive of the early 1990s than the early 1970s I would say. It's good but there's a rather immovable austerity about it. With water: softens but the sense of salinity, austerity, chalk, wet wool, beach rocks and sand never quite departs. Some subtle citrus and tiny exotic notes in the background, but the dominant element is this rather tough dryness. Finish: long, salty, full of bone-dry smokiness, soot and slight vegetal hints. Comments: quite far from the 1973, but this is still a rather entertaining wee brute. The austere qualities make it quite a challenge, and I actually think it works far better without water, but it serves as yet more evidence that Bowmore is one of the most ever-shifting distillates in Whisky. 
SGP: 465 - 85 points. 

Bowmore 1969/1978 (58%, OB for Fecchio & Frassa, sherry, cask #6638, 75cl)
Colour: white wine. Nose: a profile that immediately creates cognitive dissonance. It's such an utterly singular, almost monstrously individualistic profile. And, yet, beneath that it's also extremely complex and detailed in a way that, as with all these truly legendary whiskies, is nigh on impossible to describe or capture in a mere note. I'd simply say it is hypnotically and immensely maritime, in a way that's extraordinarily evocative and powerful. This is bound up with pristinely sharp and bright exotic fruits, then endless combinations of waxes, minerals, stones and medicines. It's really the sense of vividness, life, brightness and power that you come away with, above listing mere aromas. With water: the same but, perhaps, if it's even possible, with more cohesion and intensity, while also simultaneously managing to become broader and even more complex. Accordingly, the cognitive dissonance goes up several notches as well. Mouth: so good it kind of makes you put your head in your hands and chuckle. Astonishing and intense salinity matched by exotic fruit acids, mineral oils, salts, pure waxiness, mechanical elements, all manner of medicines, ointments, bouillon stock, marrow, citrus rinds - everything, all at once! With water: perfect, everything in balance, intensely powerful and charismatic, while also harmonious, elegant and still persisting in this kind of granular, fruity, waxy and medicinal detail that is little short of breathtaking. Finish: extremely long and pretty much perfect. Comments: cognitive dissonance is, I feel, quite correct in describing the impression these whiskies create. They manage to inhabit multiple profiles simultaneously in a way that should not be possible and doesn't entirely make sense. Perhaps the simplest and most correct way to put it, is that they are just really fucking incredible. 
SGP: 566 - 95 points. 

Bowmore 1969/1978 (58%, OB for Fecchio & Frassa, sherry, cask #6639, 300 bottles)
Colour: white wine. Nose: we are actually very close and the 'feeling' is the same, which is to say the same discombobulation and cognitive dissonance strikes fast and deep! However, I do believe you notice that extra point in the form of slightly more pronounced exotic fruit character and perhaps an even more elevated sense of farmyard, mechanical and waxy qualities. At this level of the 100-point scale, remember that the distance between points becomes quite wide and to go from 95 to 96 is quite a jump that can be written about in potentially great detail. You'll be greatly relieved to know that I don't intend to do that today. With water: an artwork in distillate form. Salty coastal qualities, fruits, waxes, medicines, oils - everything that's already been mentioned but the immense power and elegance of its presentation is mind blowing. Mouth: yes! Utterly astonishing, the same as its sibling, but every aspect is elevated slightly but noticeably. The most striking deviation is the fruit intensity, not only tropical and citrus fruit flavour, but also this sense of acidity and gelatinous texture as well. You feel like there might be mango pulp in your glass at points. Utterly spellbinding power, salinity, waxiness and fatness. With water: goes up even further in terms of texture and mind-melting fruity power. Finish: astonishingly long and mesmeric, drenched in sharp, intense exotic fruits, minerals, oils, fatty waxes and mechanical/medicinal combinations. Comments: Last time I tried this one, we followed with Bowmore Bouquet Samaroli 1966, and that's precisely the whisky that this one brings to mind in many ways. Unquestionably, this is a bottling that's up there with the greatest spirits ever created by man. It's both humbling and extremely useful to taste these sorts of bottlings on occasion, it puts both you the taster, whisky as a category, and the whole wider world of spirits, firmly in perspective. What I love most about both these wonderful old single cask Bowmores is that they are young whiskies, almost entirely about the power, beauty and enigmatic character of impeccably made distillate, and precisely nothing to do with additive wood influence. 
SGP: 676 - 96 points.