Bowmore 17-Year White Sands
46% ABV - Islay, Scotland
Nose: There is a very light smokiness covering some tropical fruits - like cutting open a pineapple, smoke rises from the flesh, and it’s made of oak! Ahem,... and marine air, tobacco or cigar, and ripe melon are present. I noted sulphur in my first sips after opening the bottle, but didn’t identify it in subsequent tastings. In fact, give it time and green fruits and apple take over.
Taste: The smoke gives way to more defined peat flavours, caramels, pine resin, and stewed fruits. Burnt orange. The flavours are fairly well defined and will dance with your tongue! It’s a wonderful taste and I think there are some layers still to discover.
Finish: The finish is long with ash, citrus, and light fruits - grapes, kiwi. It is a little bit drying and bitter, but has you reaching for more (or some water).
Wow, was I ever excited to see this on the shelf of a local private store! Bowmore 17 White Sands had previously been reserved for Travel Retail, and recently I have seen it roll out and available to the masses.
Last year I tasted an amazing Bowmore: a 21-year old single cask bottled under Douglas Laing’s Old Malt Cask series. And I was taken aback by the tropical fruity flavours that just punched through the layer of peat and smoke. I thought that I’d never get a taste of that again once that limited bottling sold out. With this 17-year expression I can get hints of the same flavours - but the peat smoke is more dominant and has somewhat muted the fruits. (Interestingly, I never got that layer of fruits from the Bowmore 18-year old... I’ll have to taste that again! As far as I know they are both ex-Bourbon matured.)
Tasted this one side-by-side with Laphroaig 15 – and wow, that is an enjoyable experience alternating between the two.
Get it while it lasts!
Tasted 13 January 2019, 21 February 2019. (Posted 9 March 2019).
