Bowmore 17 Year Old "White Sands"

A relatively new release from Bowmore, and having been a big fan of their classic 17YO from a few years back I grabbed a bottle as soon as I could.

However, this is quite markedly different from the classic 17YO Bowmore which I recall as being salty, lemony and very dry.

The nose is predominantly tropical fruits - I get pineapple and passion fruit. Being Bowmore I have to search for smokiness and it is there but really not that prominent. A little bit of citrus and more Caribbean fruit. Slightly salty with further tropical fruit. Anyone remember 5Alive or Um Bongo, ("they drink it in the Congo")? It's like a grown-up version of that. :). Some orange now.... TBH, someone with a bit more skill than me could probably pick apart the individual fruit flavours better than I'm doing.

Again on the palate we get more of the same, although a bit more of the classic lemon and honey profile filters through now. Smokiness is noticeable but way way back when compared to the 12 and even the 15-Darkest. Becomes slightly more noticeable with a bit of breathing time. Quite drying and again, images of the Caribbean spring to mind. Yep, "White Sands" is a very appropriate name.

It finishes quite bitter at first and a bit disappointing. But then the fruit springs back to life and it is somewhat redeemed.

I realise I'm probably making this out to be slightly one-dimensional or odd. It isn't - but it really was not what I was expecting! However, that is not to say it is not good - it really is very nice. I did have an initial WTF moment with the first dram or two but over the last few months it has grown on me as something a bit different and quirky. Just don't expect it to be the classic 17YO resurrected.

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