ABV: 40 %
Origin: Islay
Type: Single malt
Bottles in collection: 0
Emptied bottles: 2
Impression: 4/5

Tasting notes
Nose: This is ripe fruits and leathery peat. At first there’s a big bucket of raisins, overripe plums and liqueur-soaked berries with a tropical fruitiness peeking through from behind. A toned down peatiness creates a surrounding layer of leather and tobacco. The whole thing is very sweet and it’s like the fruits are coated with a tiny layer of vanilla and icing sugar. This is a very pleasant nose.

Mouth: It starts out very mild with a lot of the ripe fruits coming through, but it seems a little fresher than on the nose. Black liquorice start to emerge, and after a few seconds it takes over together with the darker overripe fruits and the raisins. The peatiness is there and it’s still leather and tobacco, but now with a hint of burning wood. It suffers a bit from the low ABV and that hurts the impact.

Finish: At first, vanilla, tropical fruits and red berries arise and expand from the center and out. The peat is still surrounding the edges and it stays there and never becomes the main attraction. The ripe fruitiness then once again takes over, but now with a base of honey. It takes a long time for the oak to show up and there’s a shift in the fruitiness towards the tropical fruits just before it arrives. It’s an anonomous oakiness without character. This could have been a fantastic whisky, but it lacks some power to deliver its best side.

Additional information
This expression was a part of Bowmore’s former travel retail range that was discontinued around 2014. It’s aged in both american ex-bourbon barrels and european ex-sherry casks with a heavy emphasis on the latter.