Bowmore Vintner's Trilogy 18-Year Manzanilla Cask
52.5% ABV - Islay, Scotland
Nose: Bowmore like none other. Candied fruit, red fruit, orchard fruits, citrus – and this is all before the mild peat and smoke hits. Dry florals, spices, and what I could best describe as fruitcake, cream soda, and vanilla extract.
Taste: Orange citrus and smoke. You could stop there, but that orange comes with an image of the slightly bittering blood oranges, and a wine-soaked Cara Cara navel. As inviting as the nose was, there is more to be desired here. A bit of resin, give or take sea salt and some minerality. The tiniest amount of hickory smoked meat came out near the end.
Finish: Citrus, ripe fruits, smoke. The bitterness is the lasting part bringing the close to a medium-short finish. Hints of red currant and peach tea – both of which can be emphasized with a small amount of water.
Every whisky has their sweet spot with water. Given that more often than not, it’s the distiller or bottler making this decision for you – paring down to the standards of 46, 43, or 40% ABV. These you need to be careful when adding more water as it could be detrimental to the overall experience. This Bowmore? This one thrives with addition of water. I had half without and added some after to the see how it reacts. The fruits, florals, and lighter fruits – especially that peach note – start to shine. And to carry the metaphor a bit more, it shines bright. This whisky comes alive!
A lot of the flavour – and points – must be attributed to the cask choice and the second maturation of 5 years in ex-Manzanilla (a type of Fino Sherry). But, as with all tastings, it is hard NOT to let the price influence your already subjective evaluation. This is not a cheap whisky, and I was lucky to purchase it for celebration of a new position at work – a classic reason to celebrate! Opened and shared in good company, it has been nearly four months and half a bottle since I first noted this! With that length of time I had to come around for a second pass. (As an aside, that’s always a fun game to see if there is consistency with your notes - I repeated the majority of flavours, but there were some jumps and switches between the taste and finish.)
I had the chance to try the 27-year old Bowmore Port Cask - also a part of the Vintner’s Trilogy - which is matured for 14 years in ex-Port Pipes after ex-Bourbon, and that whisky outperforms this one. Not only in general taste, but I felt it was better value despite retailing for roughly twice the price.
Tasted 14 September 2018, 11 March 2019. (Posted 13 March 2019.)
