Bowmore 17 Year White Sands

Review by: The Muskox

Distillery: Bowmore.

Bottler: Official bottling.

Region: Islay.

ABV: 43%.

Age: 17 years old.

Cask type: Bourbon.

Price: $122 CAD for 750 mL in Ontario.

Color: Bright gold. Colour added, chill-filtered.

Nose: The nose is sweet, light and somewhat subtle. There’s bright fruit: lemon, lime, apple, pear. Underneath is cedar wood, vanilla, and barely a hint or tarry peat. With a little bit more time resting, some honey and shortbread biscuits come forward, along with some sweet herbal notes.

Palate: Medium body, and quite oily. Arrives quickly with caramel, vanilla, apple, and lemon zest, before exploding into heavy, oak- and cedar-spiced peat. From there, the peat turns into this wonderful sour earthy mulch note, before shifting into that familiar overbrewed black tea tannic flavour that I’ve gotten from many Bowmores. This time, it’s not so bracingly bitter as it was in, say the 12 year old. As the whisky comes back down, it gets back into vanilla, licorice, and shortbread biscuit.

Finish: Pretty good length, and the peat and tannins are well-balanced with sweetness. The black tea has shifted to a strong green tea. There’s more earthy smoke, some fresh rubber, and a wisp of something like cooked ham. More shortbread, some sweet lemon, and caramel popcorn. Something buttery lurks in there too.

Notes: This is really solid. The oily body and the unexpected peat explosion on the palate make up for the comparatively subdued nose. The finish is great, too. It balances the tarry aspects of Bowmore with really nice bourbon-cask flavours and that amazing earthiness. The best Bowmore I’ve had, I think. I could drink much, much more of this.

Final Score: 83.

Scoring Legend:

  • 95-100: As good as it gets. Jaw-dropping, eye-widening, unforgettable whisky.
  • 90-94: Sublime, a personal favorite in its category.
  • 85-89: Excellent, a standout dram.
  • 80-84: Quite good. Quality stuff.
  • 75-79: Decent whisky worth tasting.
  • 70-74: Meh. It’s definitely drinkable, but it can do better.
  • 60-69: Not so good. I might not turn down a glass if I needed a drink.
  • 50-59: Save it for mixing.
  • 0-49: Blech.

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