Bowmore has its fans, but I can’t say I really drank the cool-aid….
Something in the Bowmore peat and tropical fruit combination doesn’t press the right buttons for me, and thus, most of what I tasted out of Bowmore didn’t impress me, although I must admit that there have been some gems (such as the SMWS 3.225 I recently had and the Devil’s Cask II which was nice and complex).
Photo Credit: bowmore.com
But this is a series on entry level expressions, and there are quite a few people out there who absolutely adore Bowmore, so I ventured out and got hold of a 5cl bottle of the Bowmore 12 to taste. What I found is a whisky that’s rather drinkable. It won’t blow your socks off, but it’s not bad.
Bowmore 12 (40% ABV)
Appearance: Amber, quick and thin legs.
Nose: Subtle peat, honey, mango, light citrus, caramel. With time, more tropical fruit and some notes of dark berries appear.
Palate: Bitter peatiness with spices – white pepper and allspice – and unripe tropical fruit. The delivery, however, is a little anemic (this whisky would benefit from a higher ABV and being non chill filtered).
Linger: One of the better qualities of this dram is the linger. Spicy peat in the back of the throat, slightly drying the mouth and leaving a bitter note behind for quite a while.
Conclusion
Far better than the downright awful Small Batch, the 12 year old is drinkable, and I can see why people would have this as a daily dram. But it’s a take it or leave it whisky for me, and have other entry level peated whiskys I’d rather have in my cabinet.