Bowmore 27 Year Old 1982 The Octave Duncan Taylor

Bowmore 12 Year Old

Standard Bowmore releases seem to get no love from the whisky connoisseur community. Sure, older bottlings from the 1960s and 1970s are sought after, as are Bowmore offerings from Independent Bottlers (Samaroli comes to mind), but the humble OB Bowmores are under-appreciated in this writer's humble opinion. With that in mind, here are my notes...

Score 86/100

Bowmore 15 Year Old - Darkest

I tried this Islay Malt at one of my favorite bars this evening and it reminded me of Highland Park 12, and maybe even a tad better. Just one more example of the perfect blend of sweet and smoke. Then I came home and looked up the price. Yikes! It costs about 50% more. Gosh, it's tough having expensive tastes! I rated at one point below my...

Score 87/100

Bowmore 15 Year Old - Darkest

I'm used to Islay malts (which I love), but I had an awkward feeling with this one at first taste. Very complex (fruit, smoke) nose, but a disappointing taste, very weak. Light grapefruit, some lingering bitter aftertaste (this should be the sherry aftertaste, I guess), but where was my smoke? I tried to let it air 15 minutes, nothing changed. But...

Score 78/100

Bowmore 16 Year Old 1993 TWA The Perfect Dram

The German Indie The Whisky Agency already has quite a few Bowmore on their CV. This is one of these, a 16 Year Old in the range ‘The Perfect Dram’. It was distilled in 1993 (connoisseurs say this was a top year for Bowmore, what do I know?) and bottled in 2010 at a cask strength of 59,9%. Whopping! The nose is silky soft and light peat, tobacco,...

Score 88/100