Bowmore 2001

8 year old Islay 59.9% % vol

1 of only 583 bottles from cask no. 1126

Another young-but-perfectly-formed malt, this time from a refill butt which has bestowed only a pale amber colour to the spirit. A slight nose prickle, then full-on Islay character – more phenolic than one would expect of Bowmore: foot baths, sheep dip, carbolic and Coal Tar soap. After a while buttery-minty toffee (Murraymints) – fresh as a sea breeze, sweet malt and a whiff of farm dairies. At full strength the taste is sweet, with cigarette ash in the aftertaste. Water makes for more fruit – blackcurrant leaves, even Ribena – lurking behind tablet/toffee (McCowan’s Highland Toffee to be precise), and somewhere a wet Oban Times. Now the taste is even sweeter and fruitier, and the smoky elements reduced (now no dirty ashtrays!).

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