Origin: Islay (Scotland)
Type: Single Malt Scotch Whisky
Strength: 43%ABV
Chillfiltered: No
Added colouring: Yes
Owner: Suntory
Official website: www.bowmore.com
Towards the end of 2024, Bowmore launched a new series for the travel-retail market, Appellations, with four bottlings designed to showcase the synergy between the distillate and different wine regions, a synergy that the industry has long identified as a driver of sales in its target markets.
Between Bordeaux, Burgundy, Douro and Sauternes, four finished vintages, flanked by another series, the Sherry Oak Collection, which also showcased the new design of the Islay distillery.
Today I am tasting the first three, in the expectation that sooner or later I will be able to try the older age of 22 years, in Sauternes.
Bowmore 14yo Bordeaux Cask Finish
Ageing casks: Ex-Bourbon and ex-Wine
Average price: € 100.00
The youngest in the series, like all the others, was matured in ex-Bourbon casks, followed by an indefinite period in ex-Bordeaux wine casks.
Tasting Notes
Sea and grill emerge from the glass, in a marriage of coastal and barbecue aromas: saltiness, grilled seafood, scallops au gratin, olives in brine. And fruit, expressed in red, with blackberries, sour cherries, blood orange and chinotto. Nutmeg and cinnamon complete the circle, which is not very wide and rather monotonous.
The palate is rather light and, in the wake of the nose, simple and direct: the coastal evocations return, a bit of barbecue smoke, spices, red fruits, grilled seafood (only with a little more pineapple and mango), a hint of Catalan cream.
The finish is short and elusive, with spices, citrus, glowing embers and a slight tannic astringency.
Not the best of debuts, an ethereal and negligible dram that quickly disappears from the glass and the memory: not unpleasant or ‘badly made’, mind you, just negligible.
Vote: 81/100
Bowmore 16yo Ruby Port Cask Finish
Ageing casks: Ex-Bourbon, ex-Sherry and ex-Port
Average price: € 150.00
We go to Portugal, with a finishing in ex-port ruby casks after a double maturation in ex-Bourbon and ex-European Sherry.
Tasting Notes
Macerated fruit and mould on the first approach make immediately clear the finishing, the acidic and very ripe fruit section screams Port, and you listen with your nostrils wide open: stewed raspberries, cranberries and strawberries, pushed minerality, raspberry yoghurt and damp earth. Beneath this rather important blanket, notes of vanilla, crème brûlée, milk chocolate and a puff of burnt brushwood smoke peek through. The fortified wine has taken over the whole nose.
On the first sip, the smoke is more pronounced, though still light, as are the spices (black pepper, aniseed, sweet paprika), which still surround the red fruit with a firmer texture, scattered over a cream tartlet. It soon becomes more bitter, with liquorice root, cinchona and rhubarb, with a distinctly mineral background, offset by the sweeter notes (custard, short pastry, red fruit jam) that try to hold the point. The body is not very full.
The finish is not very long and savoury, with red fruits, spices, mineral and earthy notes, cooked cream and glowing embers.
The balance is definitely not at home here, the Port casks are disruptive, taking up more space than they should, with the distillate struggling to emerge and seeming to be in a constant battle to at least hold the rear. Those who dislike this kind of maturation will be vindicated, but for me the end result, despite its imperfections, is still enjoyable.
Vote: 83/100
Bowmore 19yo Pinot Noir Cask Finish
Ageing casks: Ex-Bourbon and ex-Wine
Average price: € 180.00
Start in ex-Bourbon casks and finish in ex-Pinot Noir ones from Burgundy.
Tasting Notes
It opens with warm aromas of coffee candy, dark chocolate, fruit (ripe plums, dates, dried figs) and candied orange. Baked apple, cinnamon, nuts and sultanas lead to a strudel cake. In the background, sweet liquorice, malt biscuits. As the nose progresses, a puff of smoke and coastal tones (rocks, seafood) emerge, gaining volume with time and giving depth to a nose that is initially a little flat, offering pleasantness but not much else.
The leitmotif of this series seems to be lightness, and here again the dram lacks body, picking up more or less slavishly on the nose’s evocations of coffee, chocolate, dark fruit, baked goods and spices. There are also peat and marine notes in the background, accompanied by mineral notes and an unexpected vegetal vein.
The finish is quite short, with a chimney of shy spices, salt, wood, red fruit, orange and citrus.
Definitely the worst of the trio, with nothing to say and no depth, an example of how a contemporary whisky should not be made from an excellent spirit.
Vote: 80/100