Bowmore 2002 Exclusive Malts 12-Year
56.6% ABV - Islay, Scotland
Nose: Instantly the smoke is detectable - more peated that a typical Bowmore; it has sooty elements to it, moderately phenolic (tamed with water), and the highlights for me are the tropical fruit and citrus notes. Very slight nut or seed butter element.
Taste: Smoke from charcoal-laden barbecue pit, a fruit signature, pineapple - both the sweetness and tang, ginger, spices, and all this over some damp fallen logs.
Finish: Tropical fruits, light smoke, citrus, white peach, and spices.
This bottling of Bowmore is a single cask, cask strength, non-chill filtered, natural colouring exclusive for The Whisky Shop in San Francisco, CA - a few of those descriptors you might not find common with Bowmore releases!
I don’t think that I have travelled longer for a bottle of whisky before: somewhere just shy of 2000km. Okay, that’s not completely accurate… San Francisco was effectively the turnaround point for a two-week long camping trip going down and up the coast from Vancouver, BC. However, every time I go to a new city, you can guarantee that I’ve spent some time researching where the best whisky shops are! Only a few days after confirming accommodation I had The Whisky Shop set in my sights.
This bottle was recommended to me by the very helpful staff. My heart lies with Islay whisky, so my only requirements were an element of smoke and something unique that I’d be hard pressed finding elsewhere. Single cask - or very small batch - whiskies are something to really appreciate. I have found that they can really highlight certain characteristics of a familiar core range flavour, or they can deliver a completely different part of a flavour wheel. For me, this Bowmore bottled by Creative Whisky Company has stronger peated notes and tree root or nutty flavour than compared to the Bowmore house style.
It isn’t likely that I’ll see this bottle anywhere else, and same goes for anyone reading this review, but I think that I would take another chance with an IB Bowmore of this general age - and would recommend the same to others as well.
Details: Distilled 12 March 2002. Cask No. 20104; 254 Bottles. Creative Whisky Company: Exclusive Malts.
Tasted 07 May 2019. (Posted 13 May 2019.)
