I'm just starting on a limited edition bottling of a 2001 vintage Bowmore - aged for 13 years in sherry butt cask, with no chill filtration. It's the 639th bottle of a total of 787.
First impressions are that it is magnificent - huge flavour, with strong peat (although nothing compared to the über smokey malts from the south of Islay), "oiliness", & iodine, but also a slightly "soapy" hint which is a little disconcerting at first. I am one of the people for whom coriander tastes like soap, so this impression might actually be a reaction to a herbal quality in the whisky, which has often been identified as lavender in tasting notes. At any rate, there is extraordinary complexity of taste, with the varying strands each having a very distinct quality, which I don't find to be typical of Islay malts - like the different tastes are almost separated out.
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