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| Hello, that is one in all our (nearly) day by day tastings. Santé! |
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June 2, 2021
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The vicarious Feis Ile classes
At this time Bowmore
Celebrating Islay and Feis Ile from Whisky Enjoyable Towers, with fastidiously chosen whiskies from most distilleries, whereas we’re all dreaming of 2022…
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We thought we might do an enormous, fats Bowmore session to have a good time their Feis Ile Day, what do you say? We might even attempt to concentrate on legendary bottlings that we’ve not formally assessed but, together with fairly a couple of that had been distilled within the swinging sixties… Hope this might be rock and roll sufficient! However let’s kick this off ‘tranquillou’, as we are saying in French, with some lighter strengths and maybe some juices from ‘these vintages’…
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Bowmore 8 yo 1993/2001 (40%, Maeda Co. Ltd, ‘Islay Status’, casks #500065, 500066, 500067) 
First time I am seeing this one I’ve to say, it is from these superb days when candid bottlers would nonetheless ‘cherry-pick their casks very selectively’ whereas ‘solely selecting the very cream of the crop within the warehouses, valinch and copita in hand’, solely to bottle three or six consecutive numbers a couple of months later with out even blinking a watch. Color: white wine. Nostril: the early Nineteen Nineties might be very good. It is a good instance of some delicate all-vitamin fruit juice blended with some seawater and delicate smoke… A wee pack of liquorice allsorts straight from the SPAR, then a bag of blood oranges (from the SPAR as nicely ;-). Blood oranges operating the present right here after two minutes. Mouth: similar mixture, with the smoke having grown louder and the sweets and oranges a tad gentler. Reasonably zests than flesh so far as these oranges are involved. Good mouthfeel regardless of the decrease power. End: the anticipated saltiness kicking in. Feedback: superb and intensely sippable. This on scallop sandwiches, on the pier… In any case, a great instance of the return of traditional Bowmore after the unlikely Nineteen Eighties…
SGP:655 – 87 factors. |
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Bowmore 8 yo 1993/2001 (40%, Maeda Co. Ltd, ‘Islay Status’, casks #500065, 500066, 500067) 
Unsure concerning the firm behind this, however 1993 has confirmed to be fairly a superb classic at Bowmore. Color: white wine. Nostril: stunning nostril! Sometimes contemporary and balanced between delicate unique fruits and delicate coastal freshness. Numerous chalk, moist rocks, white flowers, wool and crystalline minerality. Some fairly particular notes of lemon peel and mango come via over time. Charming and really stunning with luggage of distillery character. Mouth: the power is a transparent challenge right here because it feels slightly fragile within the mouth. These fruits and coastal facets are all there however they actually do really feel diluted. There’s additionally a contact of cardboard and damp grains. Nonetheless good however you possibly can inform this one has been considerably hobbled. End: quick, drying, some smoked cereals and mineral oil. Feedback: I am unable to assist however feeling some type of crime was dedicated with this bottling. Above 46% and this might most likely be straightforward 90+ materials, the nostril alone was at that stage. However the palate feels undeniably diminished. Now, it is nonetheless a wonderfully quaffable wee Bowmore.
SGP: 544 – 84 factors.
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Bowmore 30 yo 1988/2019 (46.2%, Hunter Laing, The Kinship, refill bourbon hogshead, 644 bottles) 
1988… Lavender si or lavender no? And Parma Violets si or Parma Violets no? Color: mild gold. Nostril: completely ‘si’ on all accounts. Woman’s moisturizer and violet and lavender sweets, evening cream, coming into a L’Occitane airport store, then extra tropical fruits, maracuja, tangerines, papaya, litchi… A wee glass of Calif’ gewurz too. Boy is it aromatic! Mouth: excessive on all accounts certainly, on the palate as nicely. Enormous perfumy notes, extra Parma Violets, a complete bowl of floor Himalayan pepper, a mix of gewurz, muscat and viognier (do not do this at residence or drink at 6°C), and just some very average salt and smoke. End: lengthy, with somewhat extra seawater, pepper, and salted lemon. Feedback: textbook instance. It is rather laborious for me to attain this fashion, which isn’t my most popular as you might have guessed, then again it’s good in its very personal style. A should have in case your aim in life is to doc all types of malt whisky which have ever been produced. Briefly, this rating means nothing, even much less when communicated out of context.
SGP:753 – 80 factors. |
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Whereas we’re doing violets and lavender…
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Bowmore 30 yo 1988/2019 ‘Outlined in Chalk’ (50.9%, Wemyss Malts for Spirit Salon, Hong Kong, hogshead, 177 bottles)
Color: straw. Nostril: this one’s rather more on tropical fruits, tangerines, mangos, ardour fruits, guavas, all-vitamin fruit juice… No extra lavender right here, as if the distillation regime had been utterly totally different. A lot nearer to the 1993 than to the opposite 1988 so far as the nostril is anxious. With water: tropical bonbons, foam bananas, litchi buttercream with meringue, Zacapa (err..) … Mouth (neat): yeah, the lavender is again on the palate, the violets, the pink pepper, the soapiness… And it is fairly big. I perceive some buddies love this fashion, which is simply nice. All the time tangerines… With water: a wee dustiness, in any other case hand cream and certainly, Parma Violets. End: medium, on the identical notes. Feedback: schizophrenic Bowmore, with the nostril within the early Nineteen Nineties and the palate within the mid-Nineteen Eighties. Some type of Bee Gees of malt whisky, maybe. Little or no ‘peatiness’.
SGP:752 – 81 factors. |
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Maybe some youthful ones earlier than we make the leap?
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Bowmore 2000/2017 ‘Hand-filled’ (56.9%, OB, first Fill Sherry Puncheon, cask #2495)
Candy Vishnu, is that this darkish! That is what they often offer you on the distillery everytime you’re asking for espresso. Sadly, no. Color: espresso with bronze hues. Nostril: extra steel polish than in steel polish. There was one which we used on our bikes and that was referred to as Glanzol. Then the thickest sweetened oyster sauce, Bulldog sauce, PX blended with used engine oil, and rotting damsons. Loopy stuff however it isn’t a primary at Bowmore’s. With water: big notes of walnut stain, then hen broth, chives, sherry vinegar, walnut wine… Fairly spectacular and whereas it is clearly ‘an excessive amount of’, I type of take pleasure in this. Mouth (neat): as we have been anticipating, some chocolate sauce, one thing between balsamic vinegar (it’s vinegary) and bitter cherry juice, a really uncommon type of tar (coal tar plus?) and a few pickled fruits, maybe plums, definitely little onions, onion soup, brown sauce… With water: do not add any, it could go in all instructions. Onion soup and chocolate, anybody? Come on, 56.9 solely equals 100 proof, water is pointless right here. End: lengthy, salty, tarry, soupy, bitter, peppery, ultra-leafy, muddled. Feedback: I’ve heard there’s even malt whisky inside. Significantly, it is a spectacular dram however possibly not for everybody.
SGP:376 – 82 factors. |
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Bowmore 18 yo 2002/2020 (53%, Wu Dram Clan, bourbon, cask Z2/20201, 175 bottles) 
Pretty Jules-Verne-style label. Keep in mind 20,000 Leagues Below The Sea? Color: white wine. Nostril: naturally. Small flat oysters, seawater, softer tar, smoked salmon (and burning beech wooden), inexperienced bananas, citrons, seashore bonfire, sage, aniseed… Good this far. With water: traditional ‘coastal peat’. Kelp, kippers, a fisherman’s previous pipe, and so on, and so on, and so on. Mouth (neat): yet one more fashion of Bowmore, which I’d slightly name ‘smoked citrus’. Actually a number of pink grapefruits and blood oranges, some tequila and a few gin (actually, with apologies to you all), then slightly angelica and caraway. With water: I insist, some citrusy gin! What would you say Mr. Bond? End: medium, with some fragrant herbs, rosemary, thyme, extra pink pepper… I am discovering some tiny echoes of the Nineteen Eighties, however no worries, we’re completely protected right here. Feedback: I discover this proposition glorious, regardless of a couple of charmingly wobbly sides. Bowmore’s not all the time straightly traditional, thoughts you.
SGP:455 – 88 factors. |
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To suppose that each one that was solely the apéritif… Let’s unearth the oldies!…
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Bowmore ‘Over 12 Years’ (OB, for Japan, Seventies?)
A really intriguing wee bottle that, within the personal phrases of our buddy Emmanuel, ‘appears pretend however is 100% actual’. No power acknowledged right here, whereas it is not fairly a full-size bottle. It would not say, however let’s guess 50cl? Color: gold. Nostril: ‘echoes of a distant previous’, actually, that is not only a determine of speech. Would you think about a really previous bottle of citron liqueur, some musty previous books, some stewed artichokes and eggplants, a wee little bit of black truffle, some soot, the engine of a really previous automobile, and simply an previous white wine that grandpa had, slightly mistakenly I’ve so as to add, saved beneath the telly? That is it and I slightly find it irresistible. Mouth: a lot energy and assertiveness, I’d guess 46% vol.? Some fruity soups, extra artichokes, miso and umami soup and sauce, salty broth, chilly fish chowder, then some a lot clearer, cleaner, tarter notes of citrus. Pomelos, I’d say. End: medium, meaty, maybe not spectacular however this sense of previous forgotten liqueur is all the time a thrill. The aftertaste is a tad dusty-ish however we formally declare that we shan’t care. Some fudge too, which comes sudden. Feedback: a barely fragile previous Bowmore, from a bottle that is most likely seen many lives, generations and maybe even fights. It is sort of a very previous watch; you would not count on it to inform the time to the minute.
SGP:552 – 89 factors. |
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Bowmore ‘Over 12 Years’ (OB, for Japan, Seventies?) 
A brilliant-rare wee half bottle that was accomplished for Japan most likely within the Nineteen Eighties. I already wrote notes for this one a couple of years in the past whereas ‘on location’ in Japan. Which now looks as if a few thousand years in the past, however that is one other story. Let’s examine how this one from a special bottle compares. Color: deep gold. Nostril: a extra farmyard pushed and smoky fashion. Under no circumstances up to date however slightly extra in direction of the mid-70s fashion than the sooner fruit bombs. Having mentioned that, I do discover notes of dried fruits, fruit teas and issues like cheng pi orange peel, earl gray and dried mango. A bit resinous sherry, vegetable shares and a few earthy and savoury umami notes. Mouth: great texture on arrival, numerous orange oils, camphor, leathery sherry, cured meats, espresso, some pure tar, hessian. Might nearly be an previous Laphroaig in some methods. Some barely soiled peat, steel polish, sooty notes and extra camphor. The fruits are nonetheless there however extra liqueurish now and secondary to the sherry. End: medium, peat smoke, coal embers, medicines and a few extra natural qualities. A pleasant peaty / sherry glow within the aftertaste. Feedback: It does appear to sit down someplace in a transitionary fashion between fruit, peat and sherry influences. An enchanting and really cool previous Bowmore that feels a tad fragile at occasions however nonetheless has many tales to inform. I nonetheless prefer it as a lot because the final one I attempted, so similar rating.
SGP: 454 – 89 factors.
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Bowmore 1969/1979 ‘Bicentenary’ (56.2%, OB, Fecchio & Frassa for Biancalana Francesco, sherry, cask #322, 300 bottles) 
This collection is somewhat bit sophisticated, some cask numbers having appeared for a number of homeowners. What’s positive is that we simply will not care since all these ‘flat’ bottles have been completely flabbergasting each time we have tried any. Oh and somewhat little bit of thriller will not kill us anyway… Color: full gold. Nostril: big, large, imposing, beginning with camphor, triple-sec, and simply any type of smoke you might consider. Wooden, peat, seaweed, rubber, tyres, maybe even plastic. Then dried figs and raisins, previous wines, polishes, herbs, mosses, embrocations, balms and ointments. Holy featherless crow! With water: oh, marrow, ham, smoked fish, cigar ashes, citron liqueur, previous Comté cheese, a glass of vin jaune after all, then some tiny vinegary touches that work completely nicely. Very previous balsamico. Spectacular nostril, very lengthy, Netflix might shoot a complete collection about this nostril. Mouth (neat): very creamy, thick, with none single signal of tiredness (in spite of everything, this was bottled greater than 40 years in the past) and slightly, or totally on waxy citrus. Rubbing grapefruit peel and infusing herbs from the woods. Woodruff? That is my favorite. With water: I will not go to 95 as a result of I am discovering it a wee tad too candy, too jammy. They name me Mister By no means Blissful for a cause. End: salty and candy. Foie gras with mascarpone, yuzu and truffles. Combine nicely and revel in. Feedback: not too positive about that half with foie gras, mascarpone, yuzu and truffles. It was a joke. However good Bowmore, as anticipated.
SGP:655 – 94 factors. |
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Bowmore 1969/1978 (58%, OB, Fecchio & Frassa for varied Italian people, sherry cask, cask #6639)
That is the spherical bottle, not the flat one. It isn’t a matter of hope anymore, it is a matter of proof. Color: white wine. Nostril: Bowmore Bouquet, anybody? Identical ballpark, with this astounding purity, these grapefruits, these embrocations, these waxes and these inks and ashes. It’s not a matter of what is in right here, it is a matter of steadiness. With water: iron, previous instruments, shoe polish, rhubarb, whelks, lemon, winkles, oysters, kelp, previous copper cash, grapefruits. Mouth (neat): it isn’t whisky, it’s mild, it’s music, and it’s philosophy. Unbelievable avalanche of citrus, waxes, and tiny herbs and flowers. Borage, verbena, wormwood and ‘stuff’. With water: salt, pepper, wax, citrus, camphor… and myriads of tiny flavours that we might attempt to record however there are solely twenty-four hours in a human day. End: tighter, extra austere, ashy, smoky, mineral. Wonderful aftertaste on meats, soups and chartreuse. Feedback: grand, legendary whisky. I am undecided anybody would know how you can replicate this fashion, and maybe is it higher like that. What’s lifeless positive is that it is obtained strictly nothing to do with wooden.
SGP:565 – 96 factors. |
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Bowmore 1966/2002 (42.3%, Duncan Taylor for Whiskyfreunde Essenheim, cask #3305, 120 bottles)
This one from when Duncan Taylor have been having all these previous ex-Abe Rosenberg casks that have been so flabbergasting. Glenlivets, Glen Grants, Caperdonichs, Macallans… And Bowmores. Color: gold. Nostril: take mango, papaya and banana, press, filter, nostril. Extremely easy and gorgeous. Mouth: superb fruitiness, you’ll even begin to surprise whether it is in any respect attainable to convey these sorts of flavours and aromas out of barley. And you’ll reply ‘yeast!’ and you’ll most likely be proper. Unbelievable notes of contemporary mangos and pink grapefruits. End: medium, very fruity, candy, juicy. Feedback: you understand, it is easy whisky, there’s nothing sophisticated or ‘philosophical’ in there, it’s simply plain fruity make that you simply simply can not query. In the identical cluster as that of previous Bushmills, or there, Benriach. Oops, forgot to say juicy pink peaches. That is what we used to name ‘a fruit bomb’.
SGP:742 – 93 factors. |
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Bowmore 1966/2002 (42.3%, Duncan Taylor for Whiskyfreunde Essenheim, cask #3305, 120 bottles) 
Color: deep gold. Nostril: now we’re speaking! This similar impression of a singular and deeply unique ‘fruitiness’ that’s so inimitably ‘Bowmore’, solely right here it’s extra concentrated and direct. It additionally takes in pine resin, lengthy aged natural liqueurs, pure tar, heather honey and probably the most delicate thread of peat smoke. Elegant whisky that you might nostril for hours. Mouth: barely delicate arrival however the waves of candy unique fruit syrups, cough medicines, natural liqueurs and hints of smoked olive oil, hessian and pure tar that construct up after that’s simply stunning. An ideal mixture of medicines, herbs, honeys and fruits, splendidly concentrated, syrupy and evolving with nice size within the mouth. End: lengthy, all on previous Cointreau, bandages, limoncello, tar, camphor, menthol tobaccos and fir wooden. Feedback: gradual transferring at occasions, however massively rewarding with persistence, and the nostril is to die for! Most likely would have been even higher bottled 2-5 years earlier, however that is undoubtedly nit selecting.
SGP: 753 – 92 factors.
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Are we prepared for a final one?
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Bowmore 25 yo 1965/1990 (43%, Hart Bros. for Auxil France)
As they all the time did, the brothers Hart wouldn’t have instructed you a lot about what was of their bottlings. However hey, how cool is that this label? An previous Scottish portray, is not that higher than dragons, tigers, cartoon characters or pinups that fell from the sky? I see we agree right here… Color: gold. Nostril: all-vitamin fruit juice and crushed aspirin tablets. Nectarines, oranges, pomegranates, sunflower oil, chalk, khakis. It’s a totally different mixture, slightly much less tropical so far as fruit are involved, however no much less great. Very distant touches of Italian white truffles. Properly not that distant truly, these notes of white truffles have a tendency to come back to the entrance. Additionally an ideal Chablis, reminiscent of this wee premier cru on the left financial institution that I actually like in chilly years, Côte de Léchet. Mouth: nicely nicely nicely, time took its toll. Whether or not that occurred within the cask, which I doubt, or within the bottle, which is most possible, nicely, that gorgeous nostril went awfy awry, with notes of plastic and carboard which have actually taken over. A disgrace as a result of peaches and pink grapefruits are nonetheless there within the background, tr0ying to have their say. End: quick, cardboardy, flat. Feedback: however what a nostril, for crying out loud!
SGP:341 – 80 factors. |
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Bowmore 25 yo 1965/1990 (43%, Hart Bros. for Auxil France) 
Color: pale gold. Nostril: speedy and considerable notes of ardour fruit, mango and guava. Additionally pineapple. They’ve taken on this high quality the place they fuse collectively right into a single ‘unique fruit word’, to Lilt and Umbongo you might add ’60s Bowmore’. Another extraordinarily aromatic wee aromas reminiscent of sandalwood, coastal flowers and heather. I additionally begin to get a really mild soapy high quality over time, but it surely’s fairly slight. Mouth: a mild arrival, dominated by delicate, candy unique fruit syrups, nectars, delicate medicines and nonetheless this very slight however pervasive soapiness – appears it wasn’t solely within the Nineteen Eighties this attribute appeared. Some good notes of mead and candy cough drugs too. Maybe a tad delicate due to the decrease ABV although. End: good size, somewhat drier, extra peppery, medicinal and with the fruits extra crystallised in fashion. Feedback: Some components are simply gorgeous, however on steadiness the ABV and this humorous wee soapy word that retains popping up forestall this one going greater. Maybe it was my pattern, I do know another folks fee this one very extremely.
SGP: 754 – 85 factors.
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(Merci so much Angus, John, KC, Lin and Tim)
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