Bowmore 18 yo 43% ~2012 bottling vs Bowmore 21 yo 1989 / 2011 Nectar of the Daily Dram
More Bowmore? What’s wrong with him? No seriously. This is one distillery that one should make every effort to try the independents on, because the official stuff well.. isn’t quite living up to expectation. It’s the independents that seem to do a better job of showing off this illustrious distillery.
And here’s how the stillhouse looked at the time of Alfred Barnard in the late 19th century. Very different notion of whisky stills:
(credit – whiskystory.com)
Bowmore 18 yo 43% ~2012 bottling
Nose: Shaved oak and oak tannins – a lot of it. Dried orange paste and treacle. Smells like a maple syrup and wood chip tea. Under that I sense the Bowmore asserting itself – minerals salt and menthol jujubes. A blanket of white smoke and peat fire doused with sea water. The sherry component in this is unfortunately somewhat rushed and feels made to overcompensate.
Palate: Woody and tannic, some garbled vague sherryness, then salt, white smoke and ash, the sting of sharp minerals and some lime leafy-sappy notes. There’s even a bit of something a bit floral and musty in here. Hmm. Rather flat and not very inspiring.
Finish: Medium short. Ashy, minerals and salt again. Still a bit of a strange musty note.
I do have some praise: It is rather in line with expectations.
Bowmore 21 yo 1989 / 2011 Nectar of the Daily Dram 48.1%
Nose: No, it’s fine. In fact it is rather subtle and needs some attention. Rock salt and rock pools, gentle tide. A rooty peat, black earth and something like dried herbs on fire. Yet it also has shades of hot granite and sizzling lime. Also a very light maltiness, and maybe just one slight off note somewhere in that faint maltiness.
Palate: Very maritime, very salty in a way the nose could not convey. Full on seawater and smoke here. A full on tongue coating sweet peat and sharp lime thing going on. Developing into dry minerals (chew a hot rock) and something that seems a bit off but isn’t … rotting wood half buried in mud. But still lots of salt. Good tight integration of flavours
Finish: Long, salty. Dampness and earth.
Not sure how to rate this but I gave the higher rating. A very intriguing Bowmore, not the most user friendly, but makes up in complexity and development.
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