Bowmore 36 yo 1969 / 2006 Duncan Taylor #6090 44% vs Bowmore 16 yo 1984 / 2000 Samaroli #61930 45%
Bowmore 36 yo 1969 / 2006 Duncan Taylor #6090 44%
We’ve got those lovely tropical fruit hues, but regretfully it isn’t immense though make no mistake, the whole is still a thing of beauty. Bracing with waves of pristine saltwater, tangy even, without the heavier seagoing elements usually associated with this sort of maritime quality. The merest suggestion of wilt wafts discreetly in and then is shooed out. Much more present now is a light and dry peat smoke, as if from a distant fire, matched with sun warmed beach sand. The palate retains an emphatic clarity of the nose and despite wanting some strength, it stands as an emotive farewell to the best decade In the distillery’s history. 90 pts
Bowmore 16 yo 1984 / 2000 Samaroli #61930 45%
Well it’s a Samaroli Bowmore, but it’s the 1984. For every heaven there is a hell. Ok so: Ex Fino, but its brought an unwelcome acridity with none of the sherry’s charm. Wood ash, burnt shells, burnt hair and burnt plastic. Stiff leather and charred fruit, as if someone’s tried to set dried fruit alight as well. On the palate gallons of seawater wash in, but it is all for naught, for stale violets and lavender linger persistently at the periphery. Why I wonder, but then the reason becomes clear, for they are joined to form an unholy triumvirate of detergent, wilt and decay. Here they are now, furiously burying the old adage of being so bad its good. 0 pts
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