Bowmore Mariner??

Loading thread data ...

I had it a couple years ago and didn't enjoy it because of some weirdly skewed flavor elements. But one local retailer (Ray's in Milwaukee) just started stocking it at $23.99 (U.S.) and this one is sweet, supple, gentle, rich, and wonderful--completely unique peat immensely subtlely splayed across pure persian carpet. I think they mis-priced it because the Bowmore

12 is $29.99 there, which makes the Mariner at 15yrs, um, a gift. So I went back and bought the rest of what was on the shelf. If they dare restock it at the same price, those will disappear too, I can predict. You can also view this vertical tasting of Bowmore at:
formatting link

P.S.: Top buy this past year: Glencoe 8 58% at $9.98/bottle at Binny's in Chicago--subtle start; then big and warm across the palate with a bourbon-cask woody robustness, dapple of peat; complex malt sweetness, and excellent balance; a proven winner over time. Keeps showing class, even against the Islays. Bought 4 cases, which might last a little while, I hope?!? :0o

Reply to
Douglas W. Hoyt

Hi, Douglas

Quite a bargain. The review at /alcoholreviews/ was good too.

Last year I got one of the sampler packages that Bowmore used to have: five 200ml bottles, one each of the Legend, 12yo, 15yo, 17yo, and 21yo. (This was the old 15yo before the "Mariner" version) These packs were originally offered for sale in the early to mid nineties and I haven't seen any since. I wrote a post about it at the time but I don't think I ever posted it...

That version of the 15yo was disappointing, but I enjoyed the one and only bottle of the Mariner I bought. "Sweet, gentle, and rich" would be a good description, with clear seaside character. At 23.99 I'd have cleared the shelf too, I think.

Where does Glencoe come from? I haven't heard of that one. Ten bucks for a cask strength malt seems awfully good.

Bart

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

"Too thick to drink and too thin to plow"

Mark Twain's description of the tap water in St. Louis

Reply to
Bart

It's a "vatted" malt from the Ben Nevis distillery. For an 8 year it is smooth as silk, and unctuously sweet; the first taste seemed too grassy light, but over time it has become happy juice--maybe palates can get 'primed' somehow to anticipate and appreciate certain things more (as the ear can for music). I think I caught the end of sale last September, and had to drive way across town from one Binny's to the other to get it in case quantity. I imagine it's long gone at that price, though I still have 3 cases despite giving plenty away. It is the most ridiculous bargain I've had since the mid-80's when a local retailer put all their dust-covered Gordon&McPhail's on sale at half-price (and then the check-out clerk rang them all up at the price of the first one he saw)--so that I got a mid-20-year-old Longmorn and other wonders for $13 each.

I can't explain why Binny's were selling the Glencoe 8 at this price--while featuring all these wacky Edradour expressions in the $50-$70 range. There is no justice. Reviews suggest that the vattings of Glencoe 8 change character over time and expression; I kind of wonder whether Michael Jackson and Jim Murray are actually describing the same nectar in this side-by-side:

formatting link

Reply to
Douglas W. Hoyt

Just gotta say -- as a resident of a state-controlled-liquor state, where there are no bargains, where hunting down the elusive dram buys you nothing, where you get no more nor no less then the next guy ----- EYE YAM PISSED ...

and jealous toooooo.

chuck in NC

Douglas W. Hoyt wrote: > I can't explain why Binny's were selling the Glencoe 8 at this price--while

Reply to
chuck

I actually have no idea where to go for a whisky holiday anymore. That Chicago Glencoe 8 steal was delightfully freakish, and required sudden obsessive intensity to consummate. That Milwaukee Bowmore Mariner $23.99 bargain was a guilty, oddball mispricing hoard-event. Prices in Euros keep Germany and Holland just outside worthwhile (though a liter bottle of Benriach 10 is definitely worth picking up at 29 Euro where available). Even transiting Schiphol airport I don't bother buying anything--the pricing just seems too calculated. I have enjoyed the couple bottles of Talisker in the mid $30's I've picked up lately (in Minneapolis and Hamburg), but it's not worth booking a flight either place by any means. The cases of Ardbeg 10 I got at $27.99/bottle in Milwaukee that decorate the vestibule are my only, vainglorious, hope and consolation... :0o

Reply to
Douglas W. Hoyt

Where in Minneapolis? That's about $10 cheaper than I've seen it in the area, and my stock is running low. My interest in Scotch is still new enough where I haven't fully scoped the area. Although Blue Max's and the Liquor Depot are on the list.

townes

Reply to
townes

Liquor Depot had it during their scotch sale in November, and when I went in late December they were still offering all malts at the scotch sale prices (something like 25% off, which explains the $10)--though the shelves were nearly bare--I mean that very literally--it was like were not restocking--and it was a creepy place. It was the first time I've been there (on a 5-hour layover at MSP now that they've extended light rail from downtown to the airport).

Reply to
Douglas W. Hoyt

DrinksForum website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.