Today is Bowmore open day at Feis Ile Festival and the old tradition was kept when people were standing in queues since early morning to grab the golden card that will allow them to purchase the Bowmore 25 year old that was finished in wine casks for 12 years.
But if we’re already discussing 25 year old Bowmore, I have prepared a review on another 25 year old, one that was distilled on November 1989 and bottled in December 2014 as part of Douglas Laing Xtra Old Particular line up.
Bowmore 25 Year Old 1989 (Xtra Old Particular) (55.1%, £295/€519,95)
Nose: That’s a classic nose with gentle smoke, light and round peat note, salty, floral and honey vanilla notes. Real mature and even relatively delicate. With water it becomes more bowmore-y yet still retains some of the floral perfume notes but it becomes oh so more mainstream and less unique. Continue reading
Nose: Soft peat smoke, rounded and surprisingly bodily and rich, cereals, soft ashes and brine. With extra time in glass it becomes much sweeter and fruity with added peaches and apricots. bonus point: the peat is stronger. 
Nose: Hmm, good fresh and fruit nose, feels very mature for its age, sweet gentle peat, fruity and reminds me the new make a lot, oily, honey and lemon. After a while additional smoke shows up with vanilla. 
Nose: Oh this is a bit unusual Springbank. Without sherry at all (so I think) and with a very farmy and malty profile. There’s a weak like smelling from far-away peat smoke, engines oil, honey, fields fertilizer, lemon and tangerines peels. After a while it gets dirtier with added citrus notes. 
Nose: Concentrated sweet fruit, very jammy. Red apples, oranges, vanilla, nuts, ginger spice and cinnamon, After a while in the glass there are canned apricots, salty water along with some background dryness but not everything is rosy here – it feels thin and lacking substance. 
Nose: Youth notes at first, lots of cereals, sweetness from the wine is lurking at the background but then comes the distinct red fruit notes. Fresh berries and plums, light and sweet with sour edge, vanilla too. Oh, there’s some soapy perfume too after a while and additional fruitiness and muted spices that reminds me sherry influence. 
Nose: Fruity (mainly pears) and very creamy with sweet vanilla and honey. Slowly some hints of spices show up and there’s almost no peat here. I guess it’s subdued by active cask. Very rounded and solid nose. With a few drops of water we get fresh lemon and it’s spicier yet still very creamy and a lot of vanilla (almost lactic feeling). 
Nose: Lovely sherried nose with soaked raisins, red berries and dried fruit. Bold cinnamon, demerara sugar, heavy and creamy. After a few minutes in the glass, whiffs of fresh ripe sour plums and vanilla. A few drops of water makes it lighter and fresher, I could even say it smells sweeter, there’s a lot more vanilla with added sweet fresh red fruit, berries and milk chocolate.
Nose: At first it smells very young with lots of cereals and even some random whiffs of new make . But after allowing it to open up in the glass it recovers nicely showing strong vanilla and honey notes along with fruity notes of pears, lemon peels and canned apricots in syrup. After adding a few drops of water it opens up very nicely and the fruity notes intensify, and the apricots are of the fresh ripe type. 
Nose: Dry and fuzzy, peat, sweet wine, butterscotch, sticky toffee, hazelnut, burnt wood smoke (Which reminds me of the PC12).
Whisky Gospel 