Bowmore 17 Year Old
A melange of contrasts that somehow comes off brilliantly
0 990
Review by @jdcook
- Nose24
- Taste23
- Finish21
- Balance22
- Overall90
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Smoke and peat and sea salt. Warm and encompassing - and that's just the initial hit of the nose. Behind that, there are hints of sweetness - particularly chocolate - and a dash of fruitiness. A genuinely deep and complex nose that takes several goes over several minutes to start to get a grip on all the contrasting flavours.
The taste is initially lightly smoked creamy toffee with a spicy, peppery note, and then there is a rush of heavy smoke, peat and salt. I get hints of honey and occasionally I feel like I catch a fleeting smidgeon of fruit. Not too many malts start light and creamy, and develop into a warm and rich malt.
The finish isn't terribly long, but is full of flavour - spice, peat and smoke overlay hints of honey and good pipe tobacco.
If someone said to me they were trying to sell me a whisky that was sweet and fruity, as well as smoky, peaty and salty - and that it could be described as being light and creamy, along with warm and rich, I'd be pretty sceptical. However, somehow this bottling manages to pull it off, and the Bowmore 17 year old is a genuinely fantastic dram. It's a peat monster, but easier and lighter than pretty much any other Islay. Better value for money than the 'Darkest' bottlings, but probably not quite as good overall.
I'd heartily recommend it for anybody who is in to Islay malts, but wants something with a definite unique character.
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Interestingly, as I still had a few sips left by the time I finished the review, I thought I would try this one with some dark chocolate, and the pairing worked really well for me. But I mean genuine dark chocolate - the slightly bitter stuff.
I also tried some milk chocolate I had lying around, and (surprisingly) it was fairly pleasant, but the dark, high cocoa chocolate fit this whisky like a glove.