Bowmore 1968 32 Year Old 50th Anniversary

Bowmore 12 Year Old

Nose: The peaty smell of a seaside clambake near a dying campfire. If you look for subtleties beyond this, you will find the light freshness of honey, hay, orange pith, and maybe--when the campfire breathes out-- french vanilla. (With time, the overall character softens to leather and orange peel.) Palate: Entrance is sour orange and a drop of...

Score 78/100

Bowmore 15 Year Old Laimrig batch 1

Let me first say that Bowmore has not been on the top of my favourite Islay distilleries. This sherried expression however is a stunner. Neat, the peat, smoke, soot hit you first, followed by dark chocolate and sweet fruit ,hints of cherry and burnt sugar marshmallow and spice. This was made for adding water water as this just allows the fruit and...

Score 94/100

Bowmore Bw4 Elements of Islay

We all know Elements of Islay from those wonderful apothecary bottles with their Mendeljev-like codes. Bw, for example, signifies Bowmore. This fourth batch is a vatting of four casks – two from 1995 and two from 1996 – blended by Oliver Chilton, head of development for Specialty Drinks. The clean nose offers maritime elements and tropical fruit...

Score 87/100

Bowmore 23 Year Old 1989 Port Cask Matured

This new Limited Edition (is that not a misnomer with no less than twelve thousand bottles?) matured for 23 long years on port casks. It was distilled in the year Suntory got its first shares in this Islay distillery (the majority of shares and hence control would follow a few years later). Another gem that I brought home from a whisky festival....

Score 89/100