Essence of Burnt Rubberbands? (Bowmore)

Reminds me of when I was a child, and my great-aunt would come up to Milwaukee to visit from Memphis. She was the only person in the family or among friends who drank scotch, so my folks would get in Vat 69 just for her. Her brother, who drank bourbon old fashions, said that the scotch tasted like burnt tires.

Trader Joe's puts their brand on an 18-year-old Bowmore. They fairly label it as having flavors of peat, smoke, and sea salt fighting for attention. Personally, I like it.

Speaking of Bowmores, if you have a Bevmo in your area, they are selling the

10 year Bowmore for just under 20 dollars. I'm in my early peat phase right now, and its tasty, and comparable to the Laphroiag 10 that is my current favorite.

There has been a lot of discussion of Bowmore in tasting circles. Some claim that, for a period of time, that there was a perfumy-like aroma that was not to everyone's liking. I bought a bottle of Bowmore Legend as one of my very first Islays about a year ago from a little local store that doesn't sell much single malt. I have no idea of the bottling date -- could be years ago. But the bottle was quite good with light smoke, peat and a touch of sherry behind it.

I did an interesting (for me) tasting last night comparing two Caol Ilas and two Laphroigs. The Caol Ilas were the 12 and 18 year olds, and the Laphroigs were the 10 and 15 yr. It was a great illustration of how the extra age brings the background out behind the more insistent smoke of the younger expressions. Great tasting.

"mdavis"

I haven't come across it myself, but I read somewhere (Malt Maniacs?) that the phenomena probably is limited to some of the bottlings destilled in the period from about 1983 to 1990.

Gunnar

Malt Maniacs is one of my primary sources of reviews and information. There has also been some discussion of the other Bowmores that are not perhaps as good as their age would suggest, especially in light of the very nice Legend, which is the only one I've tried to date.