Some nice age in a decent cask variety, I’m looking forward to seeing how this is.
Elements of Islay Bw8, Islay Single Malt, 51.2% ABV
Minutia: Distilled at Bowmore between 2001 and 2003 and matured in ex-bourbon and ex-Sherry casks for 16-18 years and bottled in 2020 yielding 1320 bottles. Reviewed blind, neat in an opaque glencairn.
Finish: Vegetation, wood. Long. A fruitiness works its way in over time, but I can’t identify it.
Guess: Bowmore, maybe a Caol Ila.
After yesterday, I’m glad this one held up better. While I prefer my Bowmore’s to have a bit more punch, this is nice and light, with a lot of sweetness, and still some smoke in there. It doesn’t touch the Bowmore’s I’ve reviewed recently of a similar age, but it does outdo the one from yesterday. I get the sense this gets better as it sits in the glass.
I grabbed this ages ago when I was picking up anything near my area of interest sample-wise, and it’s now finally turned up in an Advent calendar. By the accounts I’ve seen, this is a nice Bowmore and I’m hoping I get to see that blind.
Bowmore 19, 1998 Vintage, The Whisky Agency, Islay Single Malt, 48.8% ABV
Minutia: Distilled in 1998 and matured in a butt for 19 years and bottled in 2018. Reviewed blind, neat in an opaque glencairn.
Guess: Gonna guess it’s a Laddie that has a couple qualities typically associated with peat.
This is interesting after the reveal. This is much more highly rated than the score it got from me, and reviews mention a lot of things I didn’t get anything close to. Either this one isn’t really for, I’m just not in the mood for it/my palate is compromised, or something went wrong with the sample and it didn’t hold up. I’m not saying it’s bad, but from what this looked like it could have been, I am a bit disappointed.
Continuing the trend of a sister cask side by side to mark a 25th review. This is one I’ve been looking forward to for a while. At least one of these has had fantastic reviews both on reddit and elsewhere. The other is just a bit older. Plus the Islay festival release this year was made up of casks from the same distillation and was excellent, though was a bit too expensive to warrant a bottle. Enough of that, let’s get to the whisky.
Bowmore 15, 2004 Vintage, Scotch Malt Whisky Society 3.314, Islay Single Malt, 56.8% ABV
Minutia: Distilled on February 16, 2004, matured in an ex-bourbon hogshead for 14 years and finished in a 1st-fill STR barrique for a total 15 years aging yielding 246 bottles. This is part of the Lightly Peated flavor profile named “Loungecore stave exoticism” and was released for the Islay festival in 2020. Enjoyed neat in a glencairn with its sister cask 3.324.
Nose: Fruit, toffee, carfamel, fruity, musty, all under an earthy, smoky “cloud.”
Taste: The nose sells it well. More emphasis on the fruit and must.
Finish: Charred wood, citrus peeks in a bit. Medium-long.
Superb.
Score: 90
Musical Evocation: Volbeat – “I Only Wanna Be With You”
Bowmore 17, 2004 Vintage, Scotch Malt Whisky Society 3.324, Islay Single Malt, 56% ABV
Minutia: Distilled on February 16, 2004, matured in an ex-bourbon hogshead for 14 years and finished in a 1st-fill STR barrique for a total 17 years aging yielding 251 bottles. This is part of the Lightly Peated flavor profile named “Split personality”. Enjoyed neat in a glencairn with its sister cask 3.314.
Nose: Similar to the other. It’s a bit punchier like vinegar (not in a bad way at all, just a slight nostril sting that you get from it), and it’s a bit industrial akin to Longrow.
Taste: Again much like what the nose promises, but adding some heat.
Finish: It drops off right away before working its way back. Chocolate-ish, salty (slight), musty and ashy. Medium-short.
Wow.
Score: 91
Musical Evocation: Tragedy – “I Wanna Dance With Somebody”
I decided my post-review commentary for each would just be the single word I wrote describing my overall impression and let that stand on its own. These are excellent. Very similar, yet different. 3.314 made me upset I waited this long to open it. 3.324 made me upset I passed on other sister casks. These are right up my ally, and are prime examples of the high regard people have for Bowmore IBs. With the blind Advent calendar starting tomorrow, it made me think about it a bit, and the 3.324, blind, I’d guess Longrow or Springbank. It’s hard to imagine a better pair to send me off into the Advent calendar full of hype and love for whisky.
As a peat fan, this is ostensibly a blend I can get behind. And the price (at least when I bought it quite a while ago) is nice so I’m definitely looking to see if it tickles me well enough to be a mainstay on my shelf.
Big Peat, Islay Blended Malt, 46% ABV
Minutia: Comprised of Ardbeg, Bowmore and Caol Ila, but probably about 99% Port Ellen. Enjoyed neat in a glencairn.
This is very representative of Islay, and it’s a nice blend. I hope it maintains some semblance of its price going forward, as I see myself enjoying it occasionally for years to come if that holds true.
Score: 84
Musical Evocation: Amon Amarth – “Gods of War Arise”
*In the event it wasn’t obvious, the claim about Port Ellen’s role in this blend is exaggerated because of how little is likely in it.
It's a bit late in the game, but I forgot to post it earlier this year. This post is about the Top 10 Whiskies I tried over the course of 2021. It is all about when I took the notes, not when the whiskies were released, and they are in no particular order.
With all the praise IB Bowmore’s get, it’s a bit of a no-brainer to include a sample of it in an order when there’s one available. And with that, this year’s Advent calendar draws to a close for a regular review format and schedule to resume. So is it closed out with a bang or a whimper?
Minutia: Distilled on October 2, 2001 and matured in hogshead #20117 for 15 years and bottled on August 23, 2017 yielding 233 bottles. Reviewed blind, neat in an opaque glencairn.
Taste: Honey, red/black pepper, malt. Cayenne flavor and heat persists.
Finish: Pepper up front. Malt, subtle smoke. Medium.
Guess: Laddie Bere Barley? Unpeated Caol Ila? Springbank? Is there a Hazelburn in my inventory? No idea.
This is really a unique whisky. The nose started out with characteristics of a lot of whiskies, it said Bruichladdich at first. The pepper is something I never got quite like that. If Talisker did an unpeated expression that would have been my guess. A characteristic in the finish really felt a lot like Springbank finishes. It wasn’t quite smoky enough for that so I thought Hazelburn, as well as the nose having a quality I find in a lot of Irish whiskeys so I figured maybe it was a triple-distilled thing but I’m pretty sure there are no Hazelburns in my sample inventory. It’s not my favorite as I really prefer a more upfront smokiness, but this is really a very interesting dram and I’m glad I got to try it. While not an in-your-face explosion, it’s far more toward bang than whimper.
Score: 81
Musical Evocation: Denali – “Real Heat”
Here are links to the other posts from this calendar:
Not much to say in the preamble for this one, just that I have a positive impression of this bottler and look forward to trying their releases. Here we go:
Elements of Islay Bw4, Islay Single Malt, 51.6% ABV
Minutia: Distilled in 1995 and 1996 and matured in refill hogsheads (2 from each vintage) for 17 years and bottled in 2014. Reviewed blind, neat in an opaque glencairn.
Nose: Fresh fruit (apples/pears), some smoke, leafy. Like being in a fruit and flower shop next door to a place that is smoking tea leaves.
Taste: New wood, honeyed fruit with spices. Malty.
Finish: Hoppy/ale, a touch of smoke but more like char.
Guess: Bunnahabhain IB, probably Elements of Islay rather than a single cask. Maybe Highland Park, but doubtful.
Not too bad a guess, really. It’s a pretty nice dram, light and gentle, but still interesting. I don’t need a bottle, but if I had one it would be a regular choice in the warmer months.
Score: 85
Musical Evocation: Aida Nikolaychuk – “Lullaby”
Here are links to the other posts from this calendar:
The third of the five birth-year bottles I've acquired to have a dram of on my birthday (revisiting a sample every 5 years to compare that sample to what remains in the bottle. The firsttwo were both Bunnahabhain IBs, so it's nice to move to a different distillery, as well as one bottled by the distiller. Fortunately I decided to include this as one of my birthday drams a while ago, when prices were a bit less high, though even then it was above what I would want to spend unless it were for a special bottle such as this. Hopefully it's worth the price.
Bowmore 23 1989 Port Cask Matured, Islay Single Malt, 50.8% ABV
Minutia: Distilled in 1989 and matured for 23 years in Port casks. Enjoyed neat in a glencairn.
Nose: Big fruit (a distance away from the glass). Actually nosing, blueberry is prominent. Molasses, smoke/smoked potpourri, possibly smoked whiting.
Taste: Tannic/dry. Dark fruit, brown sugar. Smoked caramel.
Finish: Toffee. Coffee. Caramelized brown sugar. Smoky, as if the other notes were prepared over a campfire.
Really nice. Smokier than I expected (a plus) due to the age and Bowmores typically giving me a lower level of peat. It's not huge smoke, but exceeds expectations. It's a great birth-year bottle.
Score: 94
Musical Evocation: Gary Moore – “Over the Hills and Far Away”
The first of a four part series of limited releases, each highlighting one of four characteristics of their whisky maturing in their No. 1 vaults warehouse.
Bowmore Vault Edit1on No. 1, Islay Single Malt, 51.5% ABV
Minutia: Matured for an undisclosed amount of time in ex-bourbon casks. Enjoyed neat in a glencairn.
Nose: A light smokiness which feels ramped up due to the ethanol hides the rest of the nose at first. Lemon meringue comes in. It takes on a smoky, creamy quality, like a smoky cookie dough.
Taste: Salty, slightly medicinal, some smoke.
Finish: Much the same, up on the salt. Orange/grapefruit in there a bit. Medium long. Much less salty if held longer in your mouth.
Goodness, this delivers the salt the label promises in spades. I don’t find it to be too much, but not much more and it would be. I’ve not experienced a finish like this where it’s so affected by how long the whisky was in the mouth before swallowing. A solid offering from Bowmore I’m glad I got a chance to try a sample of, and makes me more excited about the bottle I bought of the second release, highlighting the peat smoke.
I like Islay and Bowmore so this is definitely something I’m glad to try, but the age and ABV strike me as weird. Maybe the youth of the spirit makes it brash enough to be flavorful? The proof didn’t strike me any particular way when I started trying to try and enjoy as much whisky as I could, but with some experience under my belt I’m glad to be doing this blind to avoid any bias about that.
Bowmore 9 Sherry Cask, Islay Single Malt, 40% ABV
Minutia: Matured in ex-Bourbon and ex-Sherry casks. Enjoyed neat in a glencairn.
Nose: Lightly fruity malt. Really nice fresh green apple after a bit. The apple bit saved the nose.
Taste: Vaguely fruity smoke, fairly thin, some heat but little.
Finish: Caramel, some smoke.
Guess: Bowmore 9 Sherry Cask.
As far as guessing, it was this or a Sherried Ledaig, and it sure was no Ledaig. There’s nothing really wrong with it, certainly nothing off-putting, but this is a pricy bottle relative to what it offers. A bit more alcohol and this could be a pretty heavy hitter. To its credit, this is a very easy drinker and a solid choice if you’re looking for something light and enjoy smoke and/or Sherry flavors.
Score: 80
Here are links to the other posts from this calendar:
This is one of the more exciting ones in the calendar I created. My scores of whisky that spent more time in wine casks than just a finishing have been quite high, and this is pretty hard to come by so I’m glad I was ordering when a sample was available.
Taste: Thin, smoke, bit of heat builds slowly, as does fruit. The fruit doesn’t build so much as a weirdish flavor shifts into fruit over time.
Finish: Malty, nice smokiness and slight heat and must. Medium, with an intensity on the medium-short side.
Guess: Bowmore 9 Sherry cask.
With the 4 options left, I knew this was a Bowmore, but it was tough to say what. Was it so dark because of how old it was and how much time it was in a wine cask, or was it young and overly colored? Was it thin because it was 40%, or because age had reduced and tempered the ethanol? It was mostly a toss-up, but I guessed the younger one due to the mouthfeel. This is pretty good, but a bit weird, and that’s not necessarily a bad thing. Not quite worth what it costs, though. Maybe at MSRP, whatever that was, but not aftermarket prices if they’re far above normal shelf price. Historically, I’ve really enjoyed wine casks, so I’m a bit surprised this one didn’t wow me, but it did perform a bit better than Bowmore’s 25 and is about the same age, so that lines up a bit. I think I’d have scored this higher if I knew what it was, so I’m glad this was in the blind group.
Score: 82
Here are links to the other posts from this calendar:
I like Bowmore probably a bit more than the average person (not talking about IBs, those are almost universally well liked), so a quite old one with some Sherry casks involved is something I can get behind. This is super expensive for a bottle, unfortunately, as can be expected with something this old, so there’s no way I’d buy it without trying and it’s not very common at bars so I consider myself lucky this was available as a sample dram, with it very possible that will be the only way I get to drink it at all. Let’s see how it is.
Bowmore 25, Islay Single Malt, 43% ABV
Minutia: Matured in a combination of ex-Bourbon and ex-Spanish Sherry casks. It’s unclear if it’s finished or if some number of casks of each type held the spirit for the whole 25 years, but Bowmore’s wording suggests the latter to me. Enjoyed neat in a glencairn.
Taste: Light, thin, minor heat. Cherry, malt, honey.
Finish: Smoky, malty, medium-short.
Guess: Bowmore 9 Sherry.
Woah, close yet so far. This is the first time in this blind calendar that I’m seeing the reveal kind of affect me. Initially, I thought the oakiness was maybe from a harsher, younger spirit in a newer cask mixed with some heavily Sherried spirit to make something palatable. After the reveal, the oakiness and Sherry influence make sense to have come from tremendous age in less active casks. My score stands as it was before, and it’s not a bad one as I did enjoy this whisky, I just think it was worth mentioning that I think I may have given myself a bias thinking it was a younger attempt to move some casks. The only weak part of this is on the initial contact with the mouth. It does not feel terribly thick. It’s clearly thicker than water, but not by much. I think even a slight increase in proof to 46%, up to as much as maybe 50%, would take this a to another level (or above). I think at that proof I’d have been better able to appreciate that malty, cherry flavor, and the finish would have been more pleasing. Not sure about the nose, but I’d guess the casks influence would be a tiny bit stronger from the lack of proofing down.
Score: 79
Here are links to the other posts from this calendar:
This was inspired by the pretty successful Devil’s Cask series Bowmore released, a trio of heavily Sherried batches. This was “inspired” by that, so I guess not up to par enough to be another installation, and modifies the recipe with some red wine barriques. Definitely an intriguing dram with the original DC releases a bit too hard to come by.
Bowmore 10 Devil’s Cask Inspired, Islay Single Malt, 46% ABV
Minutia: Matured in ex-Oloroso Sherry and red wine casks. Enjoyed neat in a glencairn.
Finish: Pepper. Burnt meat ends, SO savory. Vague banana after a bit.
Guess: Definite Sherry cask. If I didn’t know there were no Bunnahabhain’s in the pool, my guess is Bowmore 9 Sherry cask or a Bunna.
Wine cask influence continues to appeal to me with this one. The Sherry on the nose hits like a ton of bricks, and that meaty taste in the finish is just incredible. If this was only called “inspired” and not good enough to be the 4th edition, the actual Devil’s Cask expression has got to be amazing. If this was even just a bit smokier I’d probably be seeking out a bottle even at inflated prices, and based on this I’ll be thinking about the Devil’s Cask releases less passively than I am now.
Score: 85
Here are links to the other posts from this calendar:
