Bowmore 1968 37 Year Old Bourbon Wood

The 1960’s were considered as a golden era for the Bowmore Distillery. This was the same time when the distillery produced the now legendary Black, White and Gold Bowmore series. Hence getting your hands on any spirit from this period is definitely a stroke of good luck. Fortunately a friend of mine sent me a sample of the now hard to find 37 year old Bowmore which was distilled way back in 1968. At 43.4% ABV, only 708 bottles of this whisky were bottled and I had a sample from bottle number 284. This was definitely going to be interesting. Nose: It all begins with a lot of sweet notes honey, sugarcane and even sweet spices too. Strong earthy notes and wood make a strong appearance. There is peat but it makes a really fleeting appearance. Towards the end there's some citrus based aromas possibly swaying more in the direction of a lemon tart or lemon cheesecake maybe. Palate: There's definitely a honey like sweetness that greets your tongue as soon as the spirit comes in contact with it, however it's quite restrained and hence not overly sweet. This one has a really oily palate. What comes through very strongly is the flavors of various red and blue berries. It's almost like someone had emptied a box full of these fruits in the whisky. At 43.4% the impact this creates is quite nice. There is some mild spice and some herbal notes too. Finish: With so much of those berries of the palate it was probably no surprise that they'd made their presence very clearly felt on the finish too. There are also slight traces of peat along with some woody notes. Bowmore's have never been known to be overly peaty however in this case how rarely the peat makes its way through is quite surprising. I'd say this one has a moderately long finish. Overall while this is probably not a Bowmore that packs a massive punch its definitely a very easy going, smooth and thoroughly enjoyable drink.

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