To the utter delight of the blogger sitting across from me at this tasting, I’m not a Bowmore fan….
Photo Credit: whiskyshow.com
But let me back up to the start of this story. The Jewish holidays come out consistently on the same weekend as The Whisky Show in London (yup, ’tis the season…), thus, I’m the only one from Israel who makes the trip to the show. That means that I’m always sitting next to new people and making new friends, which is a lot of fun. In this particular masterclass, I was sitting with a London based blogger who takes care not to mention names in his blog, so I’ll keep him nameless as well (we’ll just call him F). We get to the 1968 Bowmore, I uncover the glass, take a sniff and and say with a smile: “I hope you like Bowmore”. The way his eyes lit up, said it all!
After nosing and tasting a bit, he got a nice amount added to his portion. Oh, don’t feel too bad for me, I got a topping off of my beloved Glenlossie 🙂
I’m not big on tropical fruit in real life (except pineapple, I love pineapple), and I’m not big on it in my whisky. This 1968 Bowmore is chock full of tropical fruit from mango to guava, resulting from a VERY long fermentation and less efficient yeast which created a lot more esters back then. I will say, though, that this dram has a wonderful consistency between the nose, the palate and the finish, with the same tropical fruit steady throughout.
Photo Credit: thewhiskyexchange.com
Signatory 1968 Bowmore, Distilled 8 October 1968, Bottled 4 November 1999, Cask 3817 Yield 238 Bottles (43% ABV, NCF, NC)
Appearance: Amber with slow and thin legs.
Nose: Hot asphalt, strong mango, guava, unripe tropical fruit. There’s almost no peat on the nose.
Palate: Passion fruit, mango, guava with a just a light hint of peat. Mouth drying and tangy.
Linger: Very tropical, sweet and fruity with mango, banana, sugared cranberries, star and passion fruit and that ever present guava.
Conclusion
This dram would have been an absolute party for anybody into tropical fruit. As to the objective quality of this dram, this is one of the most consistent drams I’ve had in a long time. I’m glad someone got to fully enjoy it 😉
I loved this one – was my favourite (95 points) of the stunning selections in this Whisky Show tasting.
Tony,
It was a stunning masterclass, indeed with something for everyone!
Not that I score, but I’d give this one a high eighties on consistency and complexity…Tomorrow’s Springbank would be a 93 and the HP and Glenlossie a 95 🙂
Thanks Michael
For comparison I had: Glenlossie 90, Springbank 91, Bowmore 95, Highland Park 92, Longrow 91 and Ardbeg 94. But yes – the sheer variety, complexity and quality of this masterclass was amazing – the best whisky tasting I have attended to date. The differences between a 90 and 95 rating are nothing in this context.
I agree, Tony
I really think they boil down to personal taste when it comes to whisky of this caliber.