43°
Distillery : Bowmore - Islay
Oloroso Sherry and Bourbon Casks, Oloroso Sherry Finish
Original Bottling
Core Range
Single Malt
Launched in 2024
Peated around 25 ppm
After the 12 and 15 year olds, I'm now experimenting with the 18 year old from the Sherry Oak Cask series launched last year. The maturation is exactly the same, the alcohol content remains fairly low, and we can only deplore the presence of colouring and cold filtration.
Let's Taste It :
The Sherry is more intense, deeper, candied figs, melting chocolate, red fruit jam, brown tobacco, dancing floral notes, intense woodiness, hazelnuts and walnuts. Molasses, sticky caramel, slightly burnt at the edges. It's indulgent on the palate, from redcurrant to blueberry, and if you look hard enough you can find some exotic fruit. With a slight woody bitterness, very discreet and delicately smoky peat, raspy spices. Long finish, where the wood and charcoal stand out, but very well balanced, with cola nut and marzipan, vergeoise, filled wafers, vanilla extract, pipe tobacco.
In Short,
So Bowmore has three 18-year-old whiskies, the classic 18yo, the 18yo Deep & Complex, and this one, the 18yo Sherry Oak Cask. To be honest, I find this one the least interesting. It's very good, but I don't find the distillery hallmarks that I like. No hint of saltiness or costality, too discreet peatiness, no forest undergrowth. It's a good Sherry, but several distilleries are capable of doing the same thing, and there's no distinctive character to the product. It's the least interesting, but it's also the most expensive, so go figure. To sum up, this new range is not very exciting. Admittedly, the 15yo offers a clear improvement on the classic 15yo, but it's far too expensive. The 12yo seems too weak to me, and the 18yo is good but loses its personality.
Score : 88
To Be Listened While Sipping :
Marta - Out The Way
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