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Bowmore 15 Year Old - Darkest

24 Days of Christmas: Day 10!

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@SquidgyAshReview by @SquidgyAsh

17th Jan 2013

0

Bowmore 15 Year Old - Darkest
  • Nose
    22
  • Taste
    19
  • Finish
    21
  • Balance
    20
  • Overall
    82

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Distribution of ratings for this: brand user

So I've been enjoying this very sexy whisky advent calender from Master of Malt. My wife bought it for my Christmas present after receiving the very subtle hint from me when I sent her the email advertising it.

A calender made up of 24 different whiskies, from all over the world in all sorts of different styles at different ages and different strengths.

I've been working my way through this calender slowly, savoring the different whiskies. I'd started with entry level whiskies, slowly moving my way up the ladder, getting into older whiskies, whiskies at higher strengths, whiskies that I can't get my hands on.

The whisky I cracked open tonight was one I've been eyeing all week, an Islay, which after the week I've had, felt just like the whisky I needed.

Bowmore 15 Year Old Darkest.

Now I've had Bowmore once before, but this is the first time I've tried this expression and it's the first time I'm reviewing a Bowmore.

This Bowmore has been aged for 13 years in bourbon barrels and then aged for the last 2 years in Oloroso sherry casks.

It pours a sexy dark color that just makes you giggle and go "this is going to be good!"

Intoxicating aromas off the glencairn once it's been poured. Very sweet nose, you can immediately see the sherry's influence, ripe red fruits, cherries and raisins, along with the beautiful peat, it slowly becomes spicy, mainly cinnamon and then slowly shifts into hints of vanilla and dark chocolate.

Mmmmm.

This is a whisky I'm happy to nose for hours.

However I need to take a drink eventually so here goes!

Slightly ashy with peat, a little bit oaky and then it goes fruity again with the red fruits, not nearly as intoxicating as the nose, but not bad. Slightly thin mouthfeel, but not enough to be a big detraction.

The finish is where this whisky comes back to life though, long and fruity with cherries and butterscotch. Beautiful!

An enjoyable little whisky, that sadly I've yet to see in Australia, but if you were able to find it I'd expect to pay $100 to $120 AUS for it, which strikes me as a fair price for this little guy.

If you get a chance to try it and you like your sweeter Islay's go for it.

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8 comments

@Lars
Lars commented

Nice review as always and I'm glad you finally were able to have a taste of this one. The price on this jumped up considerably since the last time I purchased it. While a nice whisky I would save a few bucks here in Canada and purchase either Aberlour A'bunadh or Glendronach 15 yo which are less expensive but tastier IMHO.

11 years ago 0

bennibarrel commented

I totally agree with you. I have this bottle too and I really love it. Its a very well balanced malt in my opinion. slainte! benni

11 years ago 0

@Wills
Wills commented

@Lars but those 2 are completely different in my opinion. The Bowmore Darkest has such a nice and special peat character: I am often thinking of lamp oil. Even the best matured Aberlour can't offer this ;)

I would rate this bottle higher but it seems you enjoyed it nonetheless. Greetings and I want this calender next winter too! How much did you pay for it? And were there others available from TWE or other shops?

Greetings

11 years ago 0

@SquidgyAsh
SquidgyAsh commented

@Lars totally agree with you, or even better and just a little more pricey, Ardbeg Galileo! It's not a bad whisky and definitely a whisky I wouldn't hesitate to drink again, not sure how often I'd buy a bottle of it though.

@Bennibarrel It is a nice one! Slainte!

@Wills You're correct my friend! Two very different styles! It was enjoyable, but there was something about the body of the whisky that prevented me from getting into this whisky as much as I'd hoped to. However sexy as hell nose!

On the calenders I didn't see any others for sale by any of the other whisky sites, other then Master of Malt. The first calender ran me a wee bit under $300 after Customs and delivery and all that good stuff, the following 2 are supposed to run me around $231 or so after I got my sister store to import them for me. God if only I could buy whisky at wholesale prices! I'll definitely be buying calenders next year though!

11 years ago 0

@Wills
Wills commented

Wow that is expensive. But at least you got quite a bit to taste of ;)

11 years ago 0

@SquidgyAsh
SquidgyAsh commented

Agreed. It's not cheap, but a few of the more sexy ones in the calender were Glenfarclas 20 yr 105, Master of Malts 50 yr Speyside, Glenfarclas 30 yr old, and a few other real sexy whiskies, and other people got some much better whiskies in their calenders, Glenfarclas family casks from like the 80's things like that that made me drool!

11 years ago 0

@Wills
Wills commented

Whoo they are kinda random? That makes it even more interesting. I will have a look next christmas... damn I have to wait 11 month

11 years ago 0

@Blinkadelic
Blinkadelic commented

This my friend is my favorite Bowmore of the common five in my cabinet (legend, 12,15,18,25 ) I expected the 18 to be close,(it wasn't) ,but it was just a bit of a let down favoring this over the monster priced 25. I mean I've enjoyed several bottles of each now, both excellent , but the 15 is king amongst the two.

11 years ago 0