Best current Bowmores?

Yes, I too got burned for some big dollars.

I'd like to believe that. It would be nice to know at what year the FWP ended.

Me too. I swore I would never buy another Bowmore, but they were so cheap that I gave them a try. I didn't detect any FWP.

I hope the problem is cleared up.

Jeff

The Bowmore 12 is one of my favourite malts and great VFM. Moving up a gear, the 17 is highly recommended.

I got happily surprised about a year ago when I picked up the Legend and it was clean. Then this past April at duty-free in London they had samples of the 12 open--and it was FWP free too! Unfortunately it was expensive.

But on the way back from Europe I stopped in at Milroy's of Soho and they had a Murray Mc David Bowmore open for sampling (distilled 1989; bottled

Then yesterday in Milwaukee I told the manager of the store that I was buying a bottle of Bowmore 12--and asked that after I purchased it, whether I could then sample it, and if it was untainted, I would then buy more of it (a malt loving friend had his 50th birthday party that evening). The manager told me that I would not be able to sample the whisky in his store. I pointed over to the sampling table of wines, and he responded that it was legal to sample wines, but not spirits, in the liquor store. I told him that I didn't want to go into my CAR and sample it (there was a police car in the parking lot as I was driving up!), but wanted to try it before I drove home, 90 minutes away. He said I should stand OUTside the car and sample the whisky--that this was completely legal--and then added that I should put the whisky in the trunk so that I would not have an "open container" of alcohol accessible in the car when I was driving home.

So I went out, opened the hatch, opened the Bowmore, poured it into the tiny wine sampling glass they had given me, sealed it back up, put it in the hatch and covered it with a blanket, took a sip, walked back into the store, and bought more Bowmore.

This Bowmore 12 is the stuff of enchantment. It has just the slightest spirity edge at first, and it is not as thundersome, peat-wise, as Ardbeg

I still have samples from Bowmore 12 purchased in the mid-80's (distilled early '70's?) as well as Bowmore 12 purchased during the FWP phase that made me gag--and sometime I'll open them all up and taste them side-by-side with this one and the Murray McDavid--though my guess is that this one is even a touch better than 70's one--I had a split of that one about a year or so back, and it was rougher than this one.

I'm still a bit leery of buying a 17 though.

I'll also go and buy a Darkest, Mariner, and Surf at $29.99 apiece if all of you will pony up.

I agree with Brett about the recommendation for the 17yo. Out of the widely available standard Bowmores it has long been my favorite. It's not at all a peat monster - it's all about complexity and balance. And it's hard to think of a more tightly knotted complex of flavors than the Bowmore 17 offers. It costs a bit more than the twelve, but (at least compared to other similarly aged OB's on the local shelves) it's still reasonably priced. And very enjoyable.

Bart

I would love to hear more about what you thought of the MMD Bowmore.

I've never tasted it, but I've seen it on the shelves and often "almost" bought it. Any further thoughts on this one?...

BArt

In your honor, I opened up a 175ml bottle of the Murray McDavid Bowmore (distilled 1989; bottled 2000; 46%). Here's the side-by-side with the newly purchased Bowmore 12 (40%) distillery bottling:

MMD: white straw color; but thick and viscous--has 'legs' on the glass; B 12: maple brown color; less viscous; more like peaty river water;

MMD: sweet and thick; goes quickly to the nose; peat starts bursting right away; long peaty palate; B 12: starts light and easy on the palate; peat builds more slowly then undulates mildly; thinner mouthfeel;

MMD: bold peat nose is full and potent; lots of flowery sweetness there too; a bit unidimensional, but the dimension is immensely enjoyable; B 12: mild maple caramel palate predominates more; pleasant peat notes add dimension--but it's a lighter, milder dram than the MMD;

MMD: big potent nose leads to long, echoing finish of flowers, autumn leaves, oak, and fresh-cooked tar just spread on the asphalt; lingers brightly; B 12: finish has the slightest mild notes of burnt maple, and little peat bursts, but you have to fight to keep it alive.

IN SUM: the MMD has far more sweetness, and is also more potent in essences that go right to the nose, and then dapple themselves in a delightful bright-complex peat flavorfall to a satisfying finish; it is a bursting, dense, classy dram with a full spring/summer flower-garden character--definitely worth the $38 U.S. it cost. The Bowmore 12, on the other hand (and it is a VERY OTHER hand) is a lighter, invigorating little number that delivers pleasantly modulating peat to the palate on a more river-running frame with overtones that are more enchantingly maply and autumnal (but you have to work a bit harder to be struck with it's character--you have to sip in more of it, and then slap it around the palate--which brings wonderful results, but is OFTEN the problem with 40% whisky). Definitely worth the $24.99 it cost.

Well I'm sold on the MMD then. I must get one.

And it's also obvious I live in the wrong place, where the MMD Bowmore goes for about $55 USD and the Bowmore 12 goes for $40!

Thanks for the tasting notes, though. Very descriptive and very helpful.

Bart

I have also heard good things about the new releases of younger OB Bowmore. The last good one I personally bought was a pre-FWP 10yo "new old stock" about a year ago. The signs are forming that M-B has worked their way through the bad stock. Don't be surprised if you see more age statement expressions from them than n.a.s. in the future. Wait about three more years before buying a "new" 17yo and everything will be fine. At its peak, the 17yo was the sweet spot in the Bowmore line-up.

At one time, I had more Bowmore bottlings in the vaults than any other single distillery. The whisky is great at its best, especially the Morrison years, but the management in the front office is abysmal. I just read they slipped into the red this year after a £700,000 write off of a failed venture in Eastern Europe.

Ever wonder how they managed to lose the crown jewel of Islay whisky ambassadorship (JME)?

Sláinte, Bushido

I don't understand what this means. What is (JME)?

Uzytkownik "Bart" napisal w wiadomosci news:x4mdnTp5rocw snipped-for-privacy@texas.net...

Jim McEwan, who used to be the manager at Bowmore, and now has been "taken over" by Bruichladdich and the people behind Murray McDavid.

Cheers, Rajmund

Bad stock? Abysmal front office?

What are you, some sort of self-styled whisky connoisseur?

Dreck Gilchrest

The comments below DO read as fact rather than what they really are, uncorroborated opinion.

Just about right... :-) He's actually one of the foremost authorities on whisky, malt and others... Anders

Thanks. It seems so obvious now. Why didn't I see it before? If I remember correctly he penned an article I enjoyed in the Malt Advocate while he was still at Bowmore. And if it's his fingerprints on the varied bottlings coming from Bruichladdich these days he's doing a fine job.

Bart

Bushido's theory would seem to apply to my recent Bowmore experiences as well. I just had a Mariner 15yo the other day and it was absolutely fantastic, light years away from where this whisky was when I last tasted it about 1.5 years ago. The 12yo is also right on the money and I picked up a half bottle recently. However the 17yo I got 1.5 ago isn't what it should be, no FWP but nothing to pique the tastebuds and as Bushido pointed out, this has always been the charm in the B'more collection.

Bill, since you're also in Canada I would say to go ahead and gamble some money on the Mariner 15yo or the 12yo.

Johanna

I think I will. Thanks Johanna, Bushido, et al.

I'll be spending Christmas in Calgary, and that might be a good time to do the deed. Malt prices, last I looked, were still 30-40 per cent lower in Alberta than in B.C.

cheers. bill

I bought a Bowmore for the first time in my life on the boat Helsingborg-Helsingor (Sweden-Denmark). It was a real surprise to taste it the first time. It is like someone had squeezed a bit of black coal into the bottle! Real smoke! It doesn´t tasted good at first , but after some zips I really learned to appreciate the stuff! Now I´m thinking of my whisky the whole day at work and have to enjoy a glass when I come home. Peje

Bill Boei skrev i meddelandet ...

Am I glad to hear that. I just bought two bottles of it, untasted, to give as Christmas gifts, based on the recommendation of George Islay MacNeill Robertson.