Scotch Review: Bowmore 18 years Single Malt Scotch Whisky

Sam lived across the street in a Dijon mustard yellow stucco, three-storey walk-up, whose horseshoe arched windows were trimmed in provencal blue paint.  He was about to turn in for the night when he happened to gaze through his bedroom dormer and see a dim light on in Rick’s Café Américain.  He had seen the bar keep, Sacha, snap the lights off when they closed earlier.  With a big sigh, Sam thought a moment, and rather than retire for the evening, headed back downstairs and across the street to the Café.

“Boss, what’s wrong?”

Rick, seated at a table next to the piano, grunted something unintelligible, and stabbed a finger at the iPad that lit up at his touch.  “Why me?  Sam?  Why?,” Rick asked.

Sam glanced at the iPad.  It displayed an email, but before he could read it, Rick continued.  “I got my Heritage Tree DNA results back and their not good . . . I’m a match with Ilsa.”

“A match?”  Sam left school at 16 and played piano full time on a riverboat.  Being a geneticist was not a possibility on the bayou, but Sam had a good idea what Rick was hinting at.

“Yeah, we’re related.”

Sam read the email that contained the DNA test results.  “But, Boss it says you and her shared a common ancestor ten generations ago on your father’s side.”

“We are related.  That’s the end of it.  I been really bad.  C’mon Sam, you know . . . that’s sick.  But, I’ll show them sons a bitches!”  Rick pointed at the bottles lining the back of the mirrored bar.  “Gimme that one!”  Realizing he was bellowing at Sam, he lowered his voice, and whispered “that one.”

Sam had no clue what bottle Rick wanted, but made a random grab anyway, and set a bottle of Bowmore 18 years old single malt down on the table.  Rick was busy tearing open a new DNA test kit, in the semi-darkness of the bar, all the while muttering “I’ll show 'em, I’ll show 'em,” as bubble wrap fell all around him.  He poured the Bowmore into his tumbler, with a Q-tip, he swabbed the inside of the glass, and then dropped it into the specimen container.  Sam sent it out by courier the next day because he feared the use of the local courier service would soon be banned.  This is not outside the realm of possibility thought Sam, given the fact that a Nazi Major Strasser had arrived in town to investigate the recent murder of two German couriers and the disappearance of their precious cargo: Letters of Transit.  But, that's a story for another day.

A month or so later, Rick got a new Y-DNA 37 test result back that said:

Rick Blaine Y-DNA Test (AKA: Bowmore 18yrs Single Malt Scotch Whisky)

Price
Reasonable considering it is an 18 year old single malt Scotch.

ABV

43%

Artificial Color?

Yes.

Chill Filtration?
Yes.

Wood Management

A combination of ex-bourbon and Oloroso sherry casks.

Closure

Cork stopper.

Distribution

Widely available.

Region of Scotland

Islay.

Nose (undiluted)

Fragrant, sherry, light smoke, slight peat, seaweed.  Orange peel, orange chocolate.  Solid oak and malt notes.

Palate (undiluted)

Fruit forward, like a Napa Valley Cabernet, delivering cherries, black grapes, toffee, salted caramel, brown sugar, molasses, which is accented by a light treatment of peat and smoke.

Finish (undiluted)

Good length.  Red wine Bordeaux, bacon, vanilla, raisins, cigar smoke.

General Impressions

The stereotypical Islay single malt Scotch is a peat and smoke blast, and then, well more peat and more smoke with maybe some black pepper for good measure.  Bowmore 18’s DNA contributes to a departure from the aforementioned stereotype.  This Islay malt is sweet, soft, the peat and smoke is delicate, restrained and even muted by the aging in Oloroso sherry casks.  With a rather modest phenolic level of 35 ppm, it’s the sherry notes that dominate the peat and smoke of Islay.  Not the other way around, as one would normally expect of an Islay malt.

Bowmore 12 and 18 are very different malts for this reason.  The 12 is peated, briny and of the sea, so to speak. There can be no doubt of it’s regional origin, Islay.  But, if someone told me in a blind tasting to guess the ancestry of Bowmore 18 I would have thought the Highlands.

Criticisms?  Bowmore 18 takes no chances.  It’s a gentle malt, balanced to the point of being a bit boring/flat if you are into powerhouses with higher ABV’s or seeking complexity.  I really think had this whisky been non-chill filtered and no artificial color, we would be tasting more complexity.  Most 18 year old single malts will wow you in taste and complexity.  Bowmore 18 does not.  Nevertheless, very drinkable and my bottle disappeared quickly as I sampled and pondered it’s lack of nuance.  

So, if you are relatively new to whisky and want to try an inviting, balanced, easygoing single malt with an 18 years age statement, Bowmore 18 fits the bill.  If you consider yourself a serious connoisseur of malts where emphasis is placed upon complexity, power and the glory of single malt, well, you be best to pass on this.   And now, back to the story . . . 

Sam looked over the new DNA test results and said, “Mr. Richard, I don’t see Isla’s name here.  You’re good.  Just some distant relatives Ardbeg, Lagavulin and Port Ellen, whoever she is.”

Rick nodded and said, “I’ll drink to that!”

Review: Bowmore 15 year old "Darkest"

Valentine's Day
What is love?  It's about fate.  You met.  You saw her from afar and became mesmerized.  You got closer without trying to look obvious.  Your eyes meet.  You quickly look away.  You look back, and damn!  She caught you!  It's ok because she grants you the slightest, I mean the slightest, of smiles.  That's how it started for me at a luncheon eight years ago in a restaurant.  She's my partner in life today.

It started a few years before that with another passion of my life:  whisky.  Oh, she can be a most cruel mistress.  I still see her regularly.  She can be mesmerizing too.  Sometimes she smiles and we have lots of fun, other times she is in a foul mood.  Her kisses can turn bitter and grainy on a whim.

Bowmore 15 years old "Darkest"
This lady of a malt is very dark in color. Very dark for a 15 year old malt.  Matter of fact, the darkest, think Claudia Cardinale smouldering in the 1966 spaghetti western The Professionals.

While Claudia is sexy, the Jim Morrison-esque gloom of this malt has me worried.

How did it get so dark for a malt that was 'finished' in Oloroso sherry casks?  Many whiskies are finished in them but don't go that dark.  After all the 'finishing' of whisky in such casks is typically one or two years.  Bowmore 15 years spent three years in Oloroso sherry casks.  The previous 12 years were in American bourbon casks.  Any caramel added?  I wonder.

Forget the subdued sultriness of Claudia Cardinale.  I am now fearing the darkness and unpredictability of Courtney Love, Liz Taylor or Judy Garland.  Tremendously beautiful and talented in their day, but lurking just below the surface of their smiles is something not quite right.  You knew they were trouble, but couldn't stay away.

Nose (undiluted)
Coal, lit barbecue briquettes, smoking North Atlantic seaside bonfire.

Palate (undiluted)
Smooth to start.  An odd combination of Islay peat that is mingling with sherry flavors.  So, on the one hand, you taste the peat and iodine of Islay that meets the sherry flavors you normally identify with a Highland malt like Glenfarclas or Oban.  Think a sea surge of peat/smoke meeting crates of chocolate and raisins from a lorry that rolled over into the bay.  Sudden, accidental and unnatural.  It just doesn't work well.  Something seems a bit off.  I taste something close to flower scented soap.  Lilacs.

Finish (unfinished)
Lime slices in ice water with medicinal notes, sea salt and how can it be?  Ginger.

General Impressions
I was expecting a lot more from this Islay single malt.  I reviewed Bowmore 12 year old (click here) a while ago and was impressed.  Me, not being much of a peat and smoke head, did enjoy the Bowmore 12.  It was a gentle treatment of classic Islay flavors that was a great starter malt for those drinkers who want to put their pinkie toe in the Islay sea of malts in the marketplace.  Accordingly, I figured three extra years plus the last two in Oloroso sherry casks should deliver complexity and additional refinement over the 12 year old.  Not so!  I prefer Bowmore 12 years to the 15 any day of the week.

Caramel Added?
As you have probably surmised from my comments above, this malt is seriously dark.  I wonder if E150 caramel coloring has been added.  I am trying to ascertain the answer to that through some contacts I have in the industry, but that will take time.  When I know, you will know.

Now, you may be thinking, what's the big deal about caramel?  Some argue that the addition of caramel in tiny quantities is of no consequence, and just creates uniformity of color that assures the consumer there is no variability of quality.  The trick is not too add too much.  Too much and you may be affecting the flavor profile.  Possibly introducing bitterness.  Mind you others will debate the bitterness in whisky can come from the European wood and youthful whiskies.  Youth is not a factor here.  So maybe the wood management was not the greatest.  Who knows?

Update - - - - In Germany the words "mit farbstoff" appear on the labels of all Bowmores.  The German words basically translate as: colourant added

Non-Chill Filtered?
If Bowmore 15 was non-chill filtered I suspect they would have trumpeted that fact on the packaging.  Alas, no mention of non-chill filtered production.  Again, when a whisky is chill filtered an argument can be raised that the flavor profile is less than what it could be.

Price Point
This single malt was not cheap.  In general terms, it was priced reasonably for 15 year old single malts, but any reasonableness goes out the window when you taste it.  It tastes more like a 12 year old entry level malt.  Where is the complexity of flavors?  Just not happening.

The bloom on this rose is like my first affection for Bowmore 15.  Fading quickly.  Love can be fleeting!

Cheers!


Jason Debly

P.S.  Guys!  Remember texting is not an acceptable manner of delivery of a Valentine!  Nor is emailing an electronic card (an oxymoron if there ever was one!)  Get a card, write a thoughtful note and pick up some flowers.  Make it two dozen red roses!

Copyright © Jason Debly, 2009-2012. All rights reserved. Any and all use is prohibited without permission.  Please note the photograph of the rose at the top of this post was taken by Waseem-79.  It appears on this blog with his permission.  All rights to the photo belong to Waseem-79.  The second photograph of the rose at the bottom of this post was taken by ..A.C.REB...  His photograph appears here with his permission.  All rights to the photo remain with the photographer.