Bowmore 15 Year Old - Darkest

There was a time when this one and Laimrig (not batch 4, but earlier) were $5 apart (about $95 and $100).

There is a world of difference. I cannot see myself EVER buying this one.

A guy in my club brought a surprise last-half-of-the-bottle of this to a shindig a few months ago, and I was surprised by how much I liked it. I prepared for a tepid Bowmore mess, but it was really fresh & lively.

Ascribe that to what you will—batch variation, low expectations, improvement in an open bottle, or maybe just the "even a blind squirrel finds a nut once in a while" principle†, but I was certainly pleasantly surprised. I wonder if there are any Bowmore nuts out there who could tell us whether their stuff is on the upswing. How great would that be?

†Yes, I agree—that's pretty much the same thing as batch variation.

I said it before but I once try three bottles of the same batch of the 18 and they ran from mediocre to very good. This is one of the reasons I rarely buy Bowmore there is simply too much batch, and bottle, variation.

I have been seeing reviews lately that are saying this has improved, but after the extreme disappointment of my last bottle (about 3 years ago) I haven't got up the nerve to try it again. Too much other stuff available at that price point that I know won't disappoint.

I've tasted it a few days later, at another temperature (I read another review here which stated it was better drinked cold, so I kept it at ~15°C), and it was definitely another whisky. Maybe it also has to do with the aeration, since there was more air in the bottle, or maybe because I try to shake the bottle from time to time. Now, I enjoy it better. The smoke is more defined, and the taste less sour/bitter. I'm starting to enjoy the Sherry+Smoke combo (even if it's less complex than in the Springbank 12) Gotta update my review one of these days!

@WhisQueer If it tastes better cold then that means it's better when you taste it less. Not a big recommendation.

But I'm thinking, maybe I should try that with LAMBERTUS...

@Nozinan In the case of Lambertus, you are better tasting it frozen.

If it tastes better cold then that means it's better when you taste it less. Not a big recommendation.

I’m not sure I wholly agree. I guess, technically you’re right. But certain wines are “supposed” to be served colder than others, why wouldn’t it be the same for whisky?

I think I'm with @OdysseusUnbound on this one.

Serious whisky appreciation can only happen at room temperature? Yeah. Probably. OK.

But whisky that's better cold is bad whisky? Maybe not. Lemonade is better cold. Most beer is better cold. White wine is better cold. And ice cream. Why not some respectable whisky?

@MadSingleMalt - Dalwhinnie Winter's Gold is 'supposed' to be drank straight from the freezer...

Never tried it myself but seems a bit of a gimmick and I suspect the cold covers some of the cracks in the NAS offering? Happy to be wrong though

@MadSingleMalt Because it just isn't?

@BlueNote:

It can't really be better cold?

Or if it is better cold, that can't be an endorsement of the whisky?

@MadSingleMalt I think I'm with @Nozinan on this: Mediocre or bad whisky could benefit from having it's shortcomings masked with chilling; good whisky, I think, is best drunk at something approximating room temperature in order to allow all of its flavours and smells to surface. I believe this is also the prevailing wisdom of the whisky cognoscenti.

But IPAs are terrible at any temperature !!

@OdysseusUnbound Especially those ones that smell like cat piss. There's some kind of hipster machismo thing these days about who can handle the hoppiest beer.

Especially those ones that smell like cat piss.

Are there any other kind of IPAs?

@OdysseusUnbound There used to be, but not lately now that there is a "craft" brewery on every corner.

@BlueNote I was at an art opening this past summer (I was featured in one of the video exhibits), and they had some English Pale Ale from an Ontario Brewery, or micro-brewery or nano-brewery or whatever it is these days, and it was actually really good. There was some hoppy bitterness, but it was well-integrated and well balanced. I wish I knew the name of it. It was a very nice summer beer.

The only cat urine note I ever got in whisky was in Lambertus.

@BlueNote - There's some kind of hipster machismo thing these days about who can handle the hoppiest beer.

Could the same be said for those that enjoy the peatiest whiskys?! Hmmm . . .

I don't mind an old-English style IPA but some of the modern over-hopped IPAs are like Grapefruit juice with a squeeze of lime and not to my liking - although much better with a spicy curry.

@RianC I genuinely enjoy heavily peated whiskies, but I’m indifferent to whether or not someone else likes them as well. I’m getting to like some IPAs, but not the crazy Double-hopped ones. Am I turning into a hipster???

@OdysseusUnbound - Ha ha! That was my thought when I read @BlueNote 's comment The Boadicea hop variety seems to be the one (UK) that gives the most citrusy notes, so I try to steer clear of ales with that in the brew.

The peat comment was tongue in cheek (mostly) but I have met people who've expressed a desire to enjoy peated whiskys as it would be cool . . . Now that, I believe, is full on hipstery! Incidentally, that's just made me remember my first encounter with Laphroaig many years ago on a ferry to France - I painfully forced it down thinking I was drinking a bottle of TCP ha. It was probably a stunning example of the 10 in retrospect!