The Mariner is a much maligned and apparently now discontinued line among Bowmore’s standard bottlings, understandable really as it’s younger siblings have always been preferable to me. It pours an amber coloured liquor with a simple but characteristic Bowmore aroma of smoke and seaweed. On the palate the smoke and seaweed continue with a slightly fishy note and some kind of sweetness penetrates maybe from the liquorish or peat which play minor roles. A really good mouthful of flavours, even if they don’t all sing a harmonious tune. The complexity is stripped away at the finish leaving smoke and peat. If the nose and finish lived up to the taste this would score very well, as it is I’m left a little disappointed, no foreplay and a dull climax.
vanPelt, I was refering to the 12 year old and to a lesser extent the Legend. I've not had the pleasure of a Tempest yet, they seem a bit up and down from reviews I've read, and the price tags do not encorage experimentation. I'll probably relent one day...
Nice notes, matching many of my sentiments. The only younger Bowmore I'd prefer is the Tempest, so I wonder which younger ones you liked (12yo, enigma, surf, legend, etc.). To me, the foreplay and climax here are all about the soft and sweet smoke, one of the better Bowmore smokes. It really suited summertime, backyard grilling.