Distillery: Bowmore
Age Statement: 10 Years Old
Type: Single Malt
Vintage: Batch #1, 2009
Alc/Vol: 55.3%
Bowmore Distillery has already been covered in this blog, with an earlier review on the Bowmore 12 years old, and for the Islay lovers, this distillery needs no introduction. Famous for its Black, White and Gold Bowmore releases, and holding the honour of being the first distillery on Islay, Bowmore is an extremely reputable and fast growing brand in the Scotch Whisky industry. This expression, the Tempest, was a special bottling that has garnered rave reviews from whisky lovers all over the world. Released in 2009, it was originally confined to only a few markets in the world, but due to its popularity, Bowmore has since released a second expression to most of the major markets in the world in 2010.
The Bowmore Tempest is bottled at cask strength, and is what many deem as 'classic' Bowmore. I personally have not had the chance to try the old Bowmores of yore, but this dram is an extremely powerful and flavourful dram that is really quite enjoyable!
Nose: Without Water the nose a balanced one. Full of floral and vanilla notes, with honey and the slightest hints of smoke, its rather indicative of what Bowmore is famous for. With water the nose opens up more with more smokiness and a nice candied orange and candied honeymelon notes. (23)
Taste/Palate: The palate is far more powerful and aggressive than the nose. Citrusy sweetness is followed by a big wave of smoke with notes of smoked ham and ash. Water makes it a bit more fruity but the smoke is still omnipotent. The taste is a bit too aggressive with quite a bit of burn on the tongue that lingers (21)
Finish: The aggressiveness fades to leave a ash like sweet smokiness follows with a teasing honied sweetness on the tongue. Very pleasing! (23)
Overall: A powerful and lovely dram which is full of flavours, but sadly is a bit too aggressive on the palate for my liking. (21) 88/100
Found At: The Auld Alliance
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