Bowmore 2002 Creative Whisky Co. 10th Anniversary
55.6% ABV - Islay, Scotland
Nose: Light fruits, dustings of smoke, briny air, with background sweet or sugary notes, and a lemon or citrus astringency.
Taste: Smoked fruit – orchard and tropical, with some wood spices and an earthy, root character.
Finish: Light peat smoke sticks around with tropical fruit notes, accompanied by a slight tang or bitterness, and spices. Medium to short, and somewhat drying.
This is the second independently bottled Bowmore that I have bought. It is also the second independently bottled Bowmore I have that has been distilled on March 12, 2002. What coincidence! It is bottled by the same company – Creative Whisky Company – and both are bottled under the Exclusive Malts line. The surprising and exciting part is that both are single casks: this release (this review) was for Creative Whisky Co.'s 10th anniversary, but the other bottling I have is from a single cask selected for The Whisky Shop in San Francisco (review here)!! I feel like this is a rare, rare opportunity to try two single casks that have been distilled on the exact same date. They are reunited. And so I shall continue...
We are dealing with cask strength, which can make for a stiff first dram, but it’s a cask strength without the pungent, nail polish vapour and aromas. On the nose the first impressions are briny and peat smoke wisps, with some tangy, tropical fruits. The astringent qualities come out with citrus. This is not the average Bowmore if I may say so – but this is why we buy independent releases… to see these other sides. Developing quickly into spices and some other vegetal flavours, the fruits stick around right until the finish,... and the spices don’t let go. It drinks like an ex-Bourbon maturation, and quite an active cask – there are some intense wood spices.
If you hadn’t noticed, there is an amusingly highlighted age statement on this bottle. (Check out the bottle image.) No, this highlighting was not part of the official design on the label, but rather the previous "bottle keeper" was tired of people making reference to the prominent 10 to mean "a 10-Year age statement" – in fact, that 10 simply marks the 10th anniversary of Creative Whisky Company. Even better that the bottle was delivered to me with the 10 completely masked! A small amount of isopropyl alcohol restored that part to its former glory, but the Sharpie on the paper label is there to stay. (I purchased this bottle opened, and at a discounted price, from a fellow whisky appreciator in the local whisky chapter.)
Details: Distilled 12 March 2002. Bottled in 2015 at 55.6%. 1 of 324 bottles.
Tasted 12, 19 May 2020. (Posted 26 May 2020.)
