Bowmore Vault Edition First Release
51.5% ABV - Islay, Scotland
Nose: Light citrusy smoke, musky old wood and spices. Trace amounts of fruit and melon.
Taste: Creamy, smoky tropical fruits,... more fruits, then comes roasted nuts and old wood.
Finish: Light vanilla, smoke, lots of smoke, and pepper. There is smack of orange and pineapple as it develops, and, there it is: Atlantic sea salt.
I’ll say it until the end of time: I really wish that Bowmore would have rounded out the Vault Editions with a third and fourth release. Missed marketing opportunity! I would have gobbled up the story telling! (I say that because this series was much more affordable than recent releases have been...)
This bottle, the First Release, is supposed to highlight the "Atlantic Sea Salt" nuances of Bowmore whisky. The Second Release is "Peat Smoke" and it is supposed to highlight—well, you get the idea. If there had been at least two more releases, then Bowmore could have highlighted an ex-Bourbon or Sherry cask… and, well I suppose that you can’t highlight water—maybe there could have been one to highlight the florals. (I am a big fan of lavendary Bowmore!)
I have to say that the tasting notes sounds great (see below). I’m not able to get all of the flavours described, but I can understand where on the flavour wheel that they might come from.
Details: First Release: Atlantic Sea Salt.
Tasting Notes (Official): Discover the flavours of sun-riped fruits, salted honeycomb, zingy spiced cocoa and iodine-soaked blood orange, all bathed in atlantic sea spray. Awash with blackberry sea salt and kumquat, the lasting finish opens out like the vast ocean itself.
Tasted 29 November 2023. (Posted 8 February 2024.)
