48,7°
Distillery : Bowmore - Islay
Ex-Bourbon Barrels and French Oak Wine Finish
Original Bottling
Limited Edition
Single Malt
Bottled in 2017
Unchillfiltered, Uncoloured, Cask Strength
Peated around 25 ppm
This sample comes from another era, when Bowmore was often the subject of intense ageing experiments with wine casks. This is less often the case today. Here, the whisky has been aged for 13 years in ex-bourbon barrels, then for exactly the same number of years in French oak wine casks. So it's not really a finish, but rather a second maturation. Despite the low alcohol content, it does appear to be a cask strength bottling, as several websites point out.
Let's Taste It :
A moist breeze laden with red berries, fermented cherries, coffee and dates, raspberry coulis, lacquered wood, chocolate icing, blueberry tart, concentrated redcurrants. Almond paste, candied apples. Smoke is in the background, barely perceptible, flecks of soot here and there, sloshing peat. Fig biscuits. Pearls of iodine. Despite a tiny lack of power on the palate, it is a marvel, lychees, orgeat syrup, rose Turkish delight, pear brandy, white grapes, and more red fruits galore. The spices are not so light, pepper, grated nutmeg, cardamom. The finish is not very powerful, but extremely long, hazelnut butter with a pinch of salt, dried bananas, chestnut cream, scrambled eggs, pan-fried mushrooms. Squares of milk chocolate, coffee grounds.
In Short,
In all honesty, it had been a long time since I had tasted whisky of this quality. It's something that isn't done anymore, I'm afraid. It just goes to show that cask finishing can produce something exceptional, as is the case here. It's brilliant because on the one hand you have the influence of the ex-bourbon barrels, bright, smooth and mellow, and on the other, the intense fruitiness of the wine casks. Wonderful tension between the two. This is the second member of the Vintner's Trilogy that I've tasted, so now I only have one left, the oldest. As for the price, unfortunately it's enormous. It's a bit discouraging.
Score : 91
To Be Listened While Sipping :
Johann Johannsson - Flight From the City
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