.bowmore - byo - cask #23

.crap picture,
good whisky

55,5% abv, €80, single malt, non-chill filtered, natural colour, single cask, cask strength

Nose: smoke, salt, sweet, dried fruit, sultanas, plums, apricots,
Palate: sweet, dry, strong, hot, pepper, honey, floral, heather
Finish: long, medium dry, dries fruits, sultanas, apricots, plums, nice slight smoke
Mark: +++++



Conclusion: I am not a Bowmore fan. But, when we were on the island of Islay during Feis Ile 2013, it was very hard not to get greedy. The festival bottles of Bowmore were sold out so fast, that we settled for a "bottle your own".  This bottle is from the first cask Bowmore ever offered to have their visitors fill their own bottles, and as fas as I can tell, it is a huge succes.

During our next time on Islay, I am going back to the distillery in order to buy a bottle of the whisky that is offered at the time. No question about it, although it will be tough to match or better this cask.

Having tasted this (and som other non-official bottlings), I wonder what Bowmore is doing to their official bottlings, to make them so... average.

More info: Distilled on 14/01/1997, matured in first fill ex-Sherry cask#23, bottled on 26/05/2013 by myself into bottle number 123 of unknown.