Bowmore 12 Year Old
Tame and bland
0 176
Review by @Pierre_W
- Nose~
- Taste~
- Finish~
- Balance~
- Overall76
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Bowmore distillery is located on Islay, on the South Eastern shore of Loch Indaal, and is said to have been founded in 1779. Today the distillery is owned by Morrison Bowmore Distillers Ltd, a holding company owned by the Japanese drinks giant Suntory.
The nose is delicate and almost floral. First there are light notes of orange and lemon, later these are followed by hints of brine and seaweed. This is a very light nose. Am I missing something? Where is the peat?
The palate is salty and a tad watery. I now get a whiff of peat but only so slightly. As we move along the palate it becomes more peppery.
The finish is medium-bodied and dry, with oak making a strong appearance.
This whisky is proof yet again that different batches can produce quite different whisky. When I think of the bottle of Bowmore 12yo that I bought in 2011 – a fruity, peaty, beautifully balanced whisky – it makes me sad to see what is in my glass today. This is nothing but tame and bland, a completely uninteresting single malt. One can only hope that the next batch will be up to the usual standard.
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In Oregon, this bottle costs the same as Ardmore Traditional Cask, which is not bland. I know what you mean about Bowmore 12 being less than spectacular. I tried the 15 (not Darkest) and liked it much much more. I'm not crazy about the Darkest. When I drank it, I found it to be flat and sickly sweet. Perhaps the bottle at the bar was old and the whisky had gotten too much air, who knows. I never saw the level in the bottle or the bottle for that matter. I was sitting at a table.