Whisky of the (Previous) Year

I am about 427 years late, but here's some comments on the Whisky Exchange's Whisky of the Year 2018 - Bowmore 15 Darkest. Not sure if "Darkest" is honest marketing.

Bowmore 15 Darkest (43% abv)

Nose - Oysters and brine. Red wine, and probably due to recency, I'll say a Shiraz. Quite a bit of oak tannin, but there's also some sourdough bread. There's peat for sure, though that blends quite nicely with the oak and wine. Sherry comes across as prunes, the kind that comes in a tin (and gives my mom diarrhoea). Smoke, but

Palate - Sherry sweetness and dark chocolate. Not quite the darkest dark chocolate, but it's got that bitter cocoa edge. Vegetal and malty. The peat is pretty heavy, surprisingly. The alcohol stings a little, to my disappointment. There's a fairly hefty fruity layer too - prunes, dates, figs, and something that feels like...grapefruit, but maybe less sharp.

Finish - I like this! Fairly long and menthol notes are pretty strong, making it a good, refreshing swallow. Like having a mint, almost. Some bitterness, like an over-steeped kopi-o.

Overall - Really good bang for buck, which is exactly The Whisky Exchange's criteria for the "Whisky of the Year".

Lying Low in High Season

Work's been pretty crazy since the summer break, and that has killed off many of the opportunities to go trying new whiskies. That's quite a downer. The upside is, my backlog will not be piling up as quickly, giving me some time to clear stuff...

And, without further ado, 2 whiskies today. A lowlander, the Glenkinchie 12, and a rare (and weird) Bowmore.

Glenkinchie 12 (abv 40%)

Colour - Colouring added, so you know what to expect.

Nose - Mm. Slightly floral, but not overly so. Digestive biscuits. A little jam...strawberry jam? Fig jam? Yea, those are quire different. Citrusy, basically. Some vanilla, but not very big.

Palate - A little malty, some oak and pencil shavings. Some oatmeal biscuits this time. Sweet on brown sugar.

Finish - Fairly short...a little spice from the wood, some oak tannin, and a little drying...maybe the colouring speaking here...

Overall - This was the first whisky in the tasting session I conducted (I'm not noob, not the audience). Good whisky to start a tasting session with - light, uncomplicated, but definitely on the pleasant side without entirely slipping into being nondescript.

Bowmore 8 years 'The Octave' by Duncan Taylor (abv 46%)

This, is what it looks like.

Nose - Strong whiffs of paraffin and perfume. Oopsies. Was this from one of Bowmore's weird years? Some oak, and a bit of smoke...that'll be smoked seaweed, I think. A little tingly on the nose too.

Palate - Mm. I don't like this very much. Characteristic Bowmore smoke, yes. But, the paraffin notes get a bit soapy here. A little floral and perfumed. Pencil shavings. Slightly savoury, like...fish. Cured fish. Mm. Not my favourite.

Finish - Not very long, but oaky, slightly spicy, oily.

Overall - Hmm. Not my favourite Bowmore ever. But, it was $70 at La Maison's sale, so...I guess you get what you pay for?

Anyhows, odd tasting notes at the back of the bottle. "Before" and "after" referring to...before and after the re-casking/finishing? Not the most conventional way, but I guess if you're selling the series on its recasking, that's one way to do things...

Feis Ile post - Top Bowmore

Sometime back, I was rather unimpressed with Bowmore's offerings, though I probably had been tasting more from their travel retail series than any of their signature bottlings. The standard 12 made me want to give them a chance; a recent tasting of a rare-ish OB blew me away. I think I'll want to try more Bowmores from now on. What did I taste that changed my opinion so drastically?

This:

As usual, whenever I try such old bottlings, DW and his dad has something to do with it. Well, my sister married DW's brother, so this was at the banquet. There were other things as well: Glenfiddich 25, Chivas 25, Yamazaki 18, Hibiki 17, and this Bowmore. Of the lot, this was most impressive.

Bowmore 25 "Small Batch Release" (abv 43%)

Nose - Smoky, like smoking charcoal. Some sherry notes - dried cranberries and raisins, and a light dusting of cinnamon powder. A bit of toffee and dark chocolate as well.

Palate - Oomph. Lots of liquorice. Smoke and a subtle brooding peat influence. Goes well with the light leatheriness of the texture. Raisins, dark chocolate, and maybe a bit of a coffee bean. It is fairly smooth too, with some vanilla and oak. With a bit of time, the cocoa notes get bigger, and the raisins become less dry. This is really great stuff.

Finish - Smoky and oaky. A bit of cranberry and prunes, liquorice lingers a little too.

Overall - yummy. I love it when peat, smoke and sherry casks come together perfectly, and this is great.

How to know what 50ml looks like (Bowmore 12)

Always helpful to know what 50ml looks like in the glass,
in case I ever need to stop myself from drinking too much.

Bowmore 12 (40% abv)

Colour - A nice gold. The box and bottle doesn't say how this is matured. Given the young age, and this not being sherried whisky, I guess that the colour is artificially added. Which isn't a great problem, but it's always nice to see a light, light colour for a whisky that should be of a lighter shade. Lagavulin 8's colour, for example, is beautiful.

Nose - Orange, gummy bears, smoke. Slightly salty, a bit of iodine, and seaweed. Burnt sugar. Something spicy...like...wasabi flavoured seaweed. This is fairly deep. And, not what I expected from a Bowmore, considering my previous experiences. I tried the travel retail exclusive "White Sands" at the airport, and that was 17 years. But I think this 12 actually has a deeper nose. Apart from what I wrote, there are undertones of some coconut and other spices. I'm impressed. Though one small flaw is that, I can still smell the alcohol sitting on top of the whisky after airing it for 10 minutes. That is forgivable, given that this is a newly opened sampling bottle, and it is, after all, still a young whisky. I'm getting some custard cream now, but it fades quickly into something phenolic. Jolly good development!

Palate - Time for the taste test! Slightly salty and bland on entry, but...wait for it...Ashes, but the ashes don't come to the fore; you kinda have to search for it, which is always a pleasant surprise when you do (except is that really a surprise when drinking an Islay?). Not sweet, but notes of burnt caramel hang around. Scratch that. The sweetness comes out later if you wait for it - honey and vanilla, approaching but not quite custard. That'll be some kind of cream then. Coconuts. This is creamier in taste (but not texture) than expected. Slowly getting fruitier - pineapples and...longan. Yes. Longan. Slightly smoky. A little spicy - probably from the wood. Texture-wise, you feel the alcohol a bit, but I would say that that is a welcomed addition in a whisky that's 40%. Perhaps it isn't as smooth as it could be, but I think the slight burn gives this a bit more body, which is much needed at the low abv. If you're young and sweet, having a little bit of a feisty-ness is very charming. Wait, are we still talking about whisky...? Or are there deep similarities...Never mind.

Finish - Big spices! Wasabi and nutmeg. A little peaty, but more smoke than peat, honestly. A little drying, and what feels like a slight bitter aftertaste. Is that the caramel colouring, or some sort of tannin? This finish is a little less impressive.

Overall - Ok, I wasn't expecting much to begin with, due to my general underwhelming experiences with Bowmore thus far. This 12 year old, however, has proven me wrong. Bowmore, when done right, can be good! Deep, rich, and showcasing all the characteristics of a smoky and rich Islay malt. I am very pleasantly surprised, and glad to be proven wrong. This was not even high-strength. Pretty deep for a young, and low abv dram. Not amazing (like the Springbank 12), but this is much better than I was expecting. Close to amazing, which is amazing. Duh. Bowmore earns itself a second chance in my books.

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And, yes, I'm back from Thailand. Did not buy the Lagavulin 12, even though I reserved it. Reasoned that, while it was good, a 12 year malt shouldn't be commanding prices upward of $200. Probably more a reflection of rarity rather than just quality. We shall not be beholden to the supply strategies of distillers, and instead, listen to our tongues and noses (rhymes with Guns 'N' Roses. Ok, not really. Sorry. But I did squeeze in three senses into that sentence).

Bowmore Gold Reef

Black Rock, Gold Reef, White Sands - the three maritime and colour-themed whiskies released by Bowmore for Travel Retail. The prices are pretty affordable, should you be flying. But are the whiskies good? There is very little consensus online regarding travel retail exclusives, though there are some whiskies that did well enough in Travel Retail to make it out of the airport and onto the shelves. Is this one of those whiskies that are good enough? Or will it remain a novelty?

Bowmore Gold Reef (43% abv) - this one is matured in ex-bourbon casks.

Nose - An initial burst of white, milk chocolate, though that disappears quickly, never to be found again. After that, vanilla comes to the fore, with some hints of coconut. That's the bourbon cask at work, I guess. Some pineapples, or a sharp, citrus fruit. I think this has been found in several newer Bowmores. A little salt.

Palate - Soft peat, a little salty, and more vanilla and pineapples. Smooth on the palate. The peat turns a little ashy, but that's fine. Well within limits, unlike the Ardbegs, which push those boundaries quite aggressively.

Finish - Ashes and honey. Pretty short. Right at the end...is that a touch of...chemical caramel colouring?

Overall - Fairly straightforward and pleasant, nothing offensive, but unfortunately, nothing very memorable either. I've only had 2 Bowmores thus far; this one, and the Bowmore 12. I've not tasted anything in either of these that's made me impressed with the distillery. It may be one of the more historic distilleries on Islay's, but the ones I've had have been fairly tame. Is there any Bowmore I should try that is a better showcase of what the distillery has to offer? Or is this it?