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Bowmore 18-year-old

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€ 309.50

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Whisky reviews for Bowmore 18-year-old

27 users have left 27 reviews for this whisky. Average rating is 88.21 points .

P.K.S scored this whisky 87 points

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Review: Bowmore 18 Year Old (Travel Retail)

Bowmore 18 year old (travel retail) – 43% abv.

Info: Bowmore recently unveiled three new duty-free exclusive malts, aged 10, 15 & 18 years, marking a return to age statements for the first time in five years. The 18yo is described as Deep and Complex, and has been matured in both Oloroso and Pedro Ximénez Sherry casks. Colour: Medium to dark burnished gold, autumn orange. (the bottle says it contain E150a colouring). Nose: Gentle and sweet. You’re greeted by smooth and restrained peaty hints, along with a waxy varnish type note followed by a rich and layered fruity compote of winter berries; stewed blackcurrants, blackberries and gooseberries along with hints of macadamia nuts. Palate: The whisky introduces itself to you nice and easily, there’s an older slight mossy dunnage wood note along with hints or whisps of peat smoke, also a slight coal tone. It’s very easy to hold on your tongue, it’s not overly thick with oils. There’s hints of a heathery moor in there, slightly floral in a good way with the more wintery sherry notes following up nicely to smooth things out and balance things up. Finish: The finish shows slightly more bite, in a good way. There’s a small crack of pepper and a pinch of coastal salt. Hints of slightly floral yet peaty costal notes are found, and followed up by the balanced sweetness of the sherry. It’s warming and fairly long. Thoughts: It’s PX and Oloroso matured, but it’s not an all out sherry bomb of a malt, which is a good thing, it’s balanced and easy drinking. When I say easy drinking, I really mean that, this is an every day later evening session whisky that you can drink easily, but won’t knock your socks off… which is good, I like my socks. I have tried the old ‘ standard ‘ Bowmore 18yo, and found it a little thin and boring. This is a step on from that in my mind. Making this 46% abv would possibly give it the extra oiliness that I think it needs. Available: World Duty Free (i.e. Airports) – £59.99. The ‘ standard ‘ 18yo is £85.38 from Master of Malt .

Thanks to Bowmore for the very generous sample!

Thoughts or comments? Come and find me on Twitter @steveprentice

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Whisky Review Round Up: Bowmore 15-, 18-Year-Old

OVERALL RATING

• by Kenji Mizumori
• March 25, 2020

Tasting Notes:

Editor’s Note: These whiskies was provided to us as review samples by Beam-Suntory. This in no way, per our editorial policies , influenced the final outcome of this review. It should also be noted that by clicking the buy link towards the bottom of this review our site receives a small referral payment which helps to support, but not influence, our editorial and other costs.

Bowmore has been around for a while. It can arguably be said to be the oldest legal Islay distillery in Scotland, dating back to 1779. The founder, David Simson is said to have bought the land in 1776. Like many of the other Islay distilleries, Bowmore was established as a “farming distillery.” Its land grant came with farmland where the barley intended for whisky distillation would be grown. The Kildalton distilleries, (Lagavulin, Laphroaig, and Ardbeg), were all farming distilleries, and retained their associated farmland until well into the 19th century.

Unlike many other Islay distillers, Bowmore is said to use about half of the peat as the other houses. Another fact is that the distillery continues to hand-turn, malt, and peat its own barley. The whisky is distilled twice and then set to age in their underground storage facilities.

The distillery’s water source is the Laggan River. It rises in ancient pre-Cambrian rocks that, at almost two billion years old, are among the oldest in Europe, and flows into Loch Indaal. The water flows over peat, picking up a brown color and about two-ppm phenol; this is not enough, however, to have a discernable impact on the whisky’s taste.

In regards to the various expressions, Bowmore has many. The range is impressive with a handful of 50 year specifically vintaged whiskies, as well as some experiments with more heavily peated options and different wood casks. In any case, I was excited to get reacquainted with the brand, reviewing here the 15- and 18-year-old core expressions.

Tasting Notes: Bowmore 15 Year

Appearance:  Pale orange or light rust

Nose:  Some smoke, honeydew, with a touch of chestnut.

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Palate:  Melon flavors followed by some peat, medium bodied, sherry, and some white pepper spice.

Final Thoughts:  I’ll admit, didn’t taste too much difference between these two. The main difference being the bit of spice in this one. Same honeydew and peat notes, and both carrying multiple layers of flavor. Personally, I appreciate the peppery influence in this one a tad bit more than the older, but to each their own.

Score: 4.5/5

Tasting Notes:  Bowmore 18 Year

Nose:  Green apple, followed by pine, sherry, and some peat.

Palate:  Super complex, there’s a lot going on here. A blend of dark chocolate, honeydew, smoke and sherry.

Final Thoughts:  This was a fun one. You can sniff, swirl, taste again and again. The complexity is astounding. There’s a unique balance between the fruit and peated elements that makes this one a win.

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Bowmore 18 Year Old Deep & Complex Traveller’s Exclusive

$ 279.99

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Description

Bowmore 18 years Deep & Complex Traveller’s Exclusive is a unique limited edition from one of Islay’s most famous distilleries. The nose brings creamy caramel toffee with ripe fruit and gentle smoky aromas before the palate arrives with rich mixed fruit and dark chocolate mingling with more  building peat smoke. The finish is long, fruity, oaky and smoky.  The Bowmore 18 won a double Gold award for Best Whiskey at the 2007 San Francisco World Spirits Competition.

As a limited edition Travel Retail exclusive, this one is hard to find online.

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Bottle Name:  Bowmore 18 year old

Whilst whisky’s steeped history and long, slumbering maturation periods may give the impression of monolithic regularity – times do in fact change – and we’re not just talking about prices, but about the character of the make itself. Sometimes change is in slow incremental steps, sometimes it’s sweeping and dramatic – such as following a change in ownership or production methods. Distillate produced 10…20…or even 30 years ago almost always has a different profile to that which is produced today. Some for the better (consistency is arguably more consistent nowadays), and some for the worse. Distillery’s go through periods where they can seemingly do no wrong (read current Springbank), but equally years where things appear to have gone rather awry. Case in point - Bowmore.

Islay’s oldest (but only fourth largest - behind Caol Ila, Laphroaig, Lagavulin) distillery went through a period during the late 80s and 90s when its whiskies presented with distinctively floral notes – anything from fresh lavender, through palma violets and Dove soap, all the way to the truly unappealing extreme of Daz washing powder. Not nice. If you’ve tried any of these older Bowmore’s you’ll fully understand where the enthusiast moniker of French Whore Perfume (FWP) came from. It's largely unknown (or at least uncommented publically) what the production variable(s) was/were which resulted in the overly floral spirit during this period. The distillery has, by and large, always denied that any significant changes in methods or equipment taking place. And yet you don’t have to dig too far into an online auction to find and older bottlings from Bowmore which is unmistakably soapy. Indeed, I’d suggest that it’s a risk. However, it’s also important to note that FWP has not been readily identified in * every * bottle of Bowmore produced during this period – or even in a majority. Whilst enthusiasts are wary of particularly time horizons (I’d guess roughly 1982-1994), it seems to me all rather hit and miss whether a bottling is compromised or not. The same cannot (and should not) be said of the distillery’s current spirit – anything produced since the turn of the millennium has, in my opinion, been very high quality. Whatever it was, it’s been fixed/altered. This brings us neatly onto Bowmore 18 year old. I distinctively remember an early incarnation being the bottling which I had my first experience of FWP with. I one of those deviants who rather enjoy palma violet sweets. That said, I’d really prefer that they remain in the confectionary section and not in my whisky! Bowmore 18 year old was first introduced back in 2007 as a replacement for the previous 17 year old – which if memory serves correctly was a mainstay offering in the mid-90s (on one of the older style ‘direct to glass’ printed labels). The bottling is composed of a combination of ex-bourbon and ex-sherry casks and is delivered at 43% ABV. There’s also a travel retail version available – 18 year old Deep and Complex - which adds some PX into the recipe, and seems fairly well received – especially for the niche which is usually packed to the rafters with over-priced and over-produced NAS fare. The ‘standard’ 18 year old is commonly available worldwide and here in the UK will set you back £77.90 from Master of Malt . Our review bottling is a 2018 edition. Nose : Smokey Terry’s Chocolate Orange alongside ripe berry fruits – raspberry and blackcurrant. Burnt pan sugars and over-reduced toffee sit with chamois leather and waxed jackets, whilst golden tobacco leaves are joined by a light rubberiness and deck sealant. Given a little resting time, under ripe pineapple is presented together with salty sea water. Reduction further emphasises the coast – salt-baked cod with ozone whilst adding a herbal note of pine needles. Taste : A gentle arrival, but not unassuming. Chocolate orange again, with smoked toffee and caramel joined by fireplace hearth ash. Silky berry fruits reduced down to a jus move into 1960’s leather sofas before heading towards ashy dry smoke conjoined with rock pool salinity. The addition of water should be undertaken careful – this thins exceedingly quickly at 43%. A few drops exhibits oiled wood, hot chocolate and smoked almonds. Finish : Medium to long. Again on orange, with ashy, puffy smoke plumes sitting alongside fading berries and salt water. Bowmore 18 year old offers good balance and fruit-forward smoke and sugars, whilst remaining completely civilised and unchallenging. The smoke is more apparent than in other core Bowmore offerings, but retains its place as a harmonious component rather than a lead soloist – the wood levels are very in check (perhaps too much for 18 years of age?!) and likewise support rather than detract. I'd still prefer it at a higher ABV and without chill-filtering, but nevertheless, this is a marked difference in quality to earlier bottlings – there’s no FWP or saccharine soapiness on display nowadays. Solid.

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Bowmore 18 Year Old Deep and Complex

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Excellent Reviews

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Bowmore 18-Year Deep & Complex

43% ABV - Islay, Scotland

Nose: Dark red fruits, nectarine, raisin, and sherry spices. There is a hint of chocolate and caramelized fruit sugars.

Taste: Cherries, an orchard fruit compote, and spices. Interestingly, I’d classify this as “more peat than smoke” if that makes sense – maybe more from the earthy side than the smoky side. Blood orange citrus (red oranges) really shines on the development.

Finish: Dried and baked red fruits, spices, ginger, and gentle cusps of smoke.

This expression has a very, very tasty development into the finish. The nose benefits from water and time, but the rest you can dive right into. I find this to be easy drinking, but I would probably not choose this to introduce someone to whisky with – or Bowmore in general, for that matter. It’s quite a bit different than the 15-Year Darkest, which is the closest (available) expression we have to compare with – and a bit more of an accessible malt. The wood notes and spices are much more pronounced in this bottling, and the ex-Sherry character is more intense. It’s guesswork for the exact recipe, but I’d imagine it has spent the majority, if not all, of its time inside ex-Sherry casks. And probably fairly active casks, unless it is just a second maturation or finishing. ...It really would be great if distilleries were more transparent about this! Is it “Deep” as per the label? I imagine that is a reference to the colour – so the answer is yes, definitely. The spirit is likely only this deep of colour by addition of the E150 colouring agent. And this caramel colouring is not always a bad thing… if there is any solace, we are made to believe that the amount added cannot make the whisky more dark than as it was drawn straight from the cask. The colour adds to the experience, and, call it false advertising if you will, there still is a certain pleasure to it. Is it “Complex” as per the label? I might not have used that descriptor myself, but, again, yes it does have a good level of complexity to it. I like to call a whisky “complex” when I am able to pull out specific flavours. For example, instead of only saying “red fruits” there might be nectarine, or plum, or cherry that stands out individually. So the name is a bit silly, like the rest of the Bowmore 2017 Travel Retail Exclusive (TRE) range, but still better than any No Age Statement as it saves them from cooking up a marketing story to explain it! It would be amazing to side-by-side this with the standard core range 18-Year and any other equivalent age – such as the 18-Year Manzanilla Cask from the Vintner’s Trilogy! I think the peat levels amongst those Bowmores are all varying intensities and that would make for a great experience. (And completely unrelated to the quality or presentation of this spirit, but this bottle I have has a satisfyingly tight fitting cork – that squeaking during the twist off is sublime!) Note: This whisky was tasted alongside the other 2017 Bowmore TREs: 10-Year Dark & Intense and 15-Year Golden & Elegant . Tasting Notes (Official): Breathe In: Rich dark chocolate, treacle toffee and date oil. Sip: Bitter-sweet orange peel and peat-smoke roasted coffee. Savour: Velvet mocha and macadamia nut chocolate. Tasted 22 May 2019. (Posted 27 May 2019.)

92/100 Detailed Rating Information...

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Review: Bowmore x Aston Martin 18 Years Old

Our slow march through Bowmore’s travel retail, Aston Martin-inspired selections continues. As a reminder, these hit airport duty free shops in 2021 as 10-year , 15-year, and 18-year bottlings under the Bowmore x Aston Martin label. They mirror the existing travel retail line in age but are drawn from special cask selections, each commemorating a specific car model important to the British automaker’s storied automotive history.

This 18-year expression is the oldest in the lineup, drawn from a mix of “the finest” Pedro Ximenez and oloroso sherry casks. The packaging highlights the 2003 launch of Aston Martin’s DB9 model, which, according to the press release, was “one of the most standout Aston Martin innovations of all time, showcasing a complexity of engineering with the perfect balance of 50/50 weight distribution front to rear.” Is this Bowmore single malt equally balanced? Let’s find out.

The aroma is surprisingly assertive at this modest proof and showing a well-structured sherry influence. Sultry notes of Medjool dates, wood oil, and marzipan freely spill out of the glass. As things open more, burnt sugar and dark chocolate-covered raisin add a darker, gently smoky sweetness. The palate is impressively full-figured with a soft but still oily texture that coats the tongue in cocoa powder, dark berry jam, and dark roast coffee before things turn brighter on the midpalate with a bit of flamed orange peel and honey syrup. The finish is generous, showcasing a soft, flinty peat smoke and creamy, gianduja chocolate. Like the 10-year, it’s another impressive value for a single malt of this age and quality.

A- / $145 / bowmore.com

Bowmore x Aston Martin 18 Years Old

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Drew Beard is assistant editor for Drinkhacker and winner of several booze-related merit badges, including Certified Specialist in Spirits and Executive Bourbon Steward. A former federal employee turned hotelier and spirits journalist, he looks forward to his next midlife crisis.

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