Bowmore 12 Year Old 2001 Blackadder Raw Cask for The Nectar

The Belgian importer The Nectar, who bottles quite a few casks themselves, brought us this Bowmore 2001 two years ago. It is from the stables of Robin Tucek and his team. Raw Cask means that it was not chillfiltered nor colored and some cask residue is still in the bottle. It is very pale and bottled at a sturdy strength.

I do not get the typical citrus from the get-go on the nose. It starts off quite malty and reminds me a bit of white bread. The crust, mostly. Or breadcrumbs. On the second wave it get some sweetness in the shape of vanilla and a salty edge, undoubtedly from the peat. There is a bit of smoke, but mostly I am reminded of breakfast pastry. After five minutes I even get some stable scents. I would call this an atypical nose.

It is quite oily and soft on the spices on the palate. A lot more spices than on the nose, but still. The peat now shows itself from the start and offers quite a bit of smoke, contrary to the nose. It even reminds me a bit of the new make. Immature, but nevertheless very good. Midpalate it becomes a touch bittersweet as if from grapefruit.

The finish is long, warm and drying.

Solid Bowmore, but I have had better. Around 90 EUR, which I find too much for what you get.

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