Bowmore Gold Reef
43% ABV - Islay, Scotland
Nose: Sweet fruits and wood spices are upfront, with honey, vanilla, citrus (Meyer lemon), and light smoke. Dry grass and walnuts came with time.
Taste: The lightly peated spirit comes with hints of tropical fruit, peach, and ripe nectarine. Pineapples, lemon-orange, and tangy guava lead into the finish.
Finish: And it’s quite quick with mild grapefruit and perfume soap(?) Light fruits, wisps of smoke, camphor, and orchard fruit.
The wood spices in Bowmore Gold Reef have a similar intensity to the standard 12-Year. I don’t think that’s a particular flavour profile they are after, and I only taste it in younger Bowmore, so it makes me assume that this NAS bottle is aged 12 years or younger.
This whisky scored top marks on the taste for me, but comparably much lower on the nose and finish. This isn’t a well-rounded whisky, but it’s really, really good. This is an older Travel Retail Edition that you can’t find anymore—it’s been replaced by a new lineup. I traded a bottle of Glenmorangie Dornach for this and I think we each got good value! If it were still available, I think the retail would be around $100 CAD and I would definitely get another one (although the 10-Year Dark & Intense that replaced it is quite delicious too!)
Details: Bowmore Gold Reef was released for the travel retail market in 2014 and replaced three years later. Reportedly matured primarily in first-fill ex-Bourbon casks.
Tasting Notes (Official): On the eye bright gold. Breathe in vanilla, coconut milk, delicious baked peach, oranges and lemons. Sip tangy peat, pineapple, juicy mango and kiwi fruit tempered by sea salt and olive oil. Savour the long, honeyed, zesty finish.
Tasted 09 February, 10 March 2021. (Posted 01 September 2021.)
