Bowmore Vault Edition Second Release
50.1% ABV - Islay
Nose: Peat smoke! Sweet, partly medicinal or iodine notes, herbal, with light fruits bordering on a floral-tropical note. The smoke is slightly woody, wet bark. Tame for the ABV.
Taste: Wet, heavy smoke, with a noted sweetness and spice. Roasted nuts, smoked meat, brine, and some fruits come on the development. Not as much sweetness as the nose suggested.
Finish: As the smoke fades some of the fruiter notes come out again. The backbone of the finish still has spices, slight medicinal character, and a bit of menthol.
While this was sitting in the glass waiting for me to get setup, it sure didn’t take much time for the peat smoke to start wafting up my nose. Bowmore Vault Edition Second Release is aptly named "Peat Smoke". Without actually nosing it, I could be easily fooled this is a Laphroaig Select waiting for me.
I’m a big, big Bowmore fan... it must be one of the most frequently reviewed I have on my website. It’s usually "buy on sight" when there is an affordable bottle that I haven’t had yet, and a not-quite-so-rare "buy on sight" for those that I really enjoyed. This release, however, is very interesting and has me a bit torn. Do I want a Bowmore this smoky? Does it mask or replace a lot of the other flavours I like? At this peat level, is it competing in the space of Laphroaig for me? Laphroaig, by the way, is my other darling whisky brand.
My hats off to the team at Bowmore as this whisky is designed to exhibit strong characteristics of "Peat Smoke"–and it does–but, it does so without any extra dimensions. The youthful age (at least, I think it’s youthful) keeps this Bowmore playful, but the supposed ex-Sherry influence isn’t able to punch through the veil of smoke. An excellent dram nonetheless, and happy to have one bottle on the shelf.
These releases of this Vault Edition series have been the slowest trickle that I have experienced. It was 2017 when I purchased the First Release and 2019 when the Second Release was available… then does that mean we must wait until 2021 and 2023?! That seems like a very long time when, although, yes, these are unique releases… it’s difficult to keep up the excitement. There certainly wasn’t a Black Bowmore DB5 marketing campaign behind this one! I hope that the next two are something focused on barrel maturation. Perhaps the Third and Fourth Releases could be fully ex-Bourbon and another ex-Sherry? I’d drink to that!
As an aside, I feel like my reviews have been creeping up in score over the years, which isn’t great for consistency, but, on the other hand, in some sense it is now more realistic in that I’ll be able to find a 97+ point whisky one day. Comparing the Bowmore Vault Edition Second Release to others that I’ve scored similarly high, it’s really at the bottom and just barely making it in.
Tasting Notes (Official): Breathe In: Peat, sweet, rich, toffee, leathery, with herbal hints of thyme, rosemary and mint. Sip: Sweet sherry, sticky fruits, BBQ smokehouse and volcanic ash. Savour: Sweet, creamy with a light mineral finish
Tasted 21 October 2020. (Posted 27 October 2020.)
