Review by: zSolaris

Distillery: Bowmore.

Region: Islay.

Age: 20 Year.

ABV: 50.70%.

Cask Type: 15 years in Oloroso Sherry Butts followed by 5 years in a first-fill Pedro Ximenez Butts.

Price: Pour courtesy of /u/KissMeElon.

Color: 1.6, Mahogany/Henna Notes.

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Nose: The sherry maturation really shows here, you get tons of it from the first whiff. You get raisins a couple of ways, there’s a dark rum raisin note as well as one of golden raises. Old leather and oak round things out.

Palate: Much like the nose suggests, this is very sherry heavy. I found that it needed water to control the heat a bit and the sherry doesn’t dissipate at all doing so. Raisins, both golden and standard, along with leather and a strawberry rhubarb jam are what stand out.

Finish: Medium in length. Notes of sherry and leather again along with a small bit of peat and ash.

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Conclusion: If I were to rank the distilleries of Islay into a tier list, Bowmore would simultaneously be in the top spot and the bottom spot. The top spot because independent bottlers and older official bottlings have showcased just how good this distillery’s whisky can be and the bottom spot because of how amazingly good Bowmore is at neutering its own spirit. Going into this dram, I had hoped that they would have managed to give us a modern official bottling that did themselves justice (like the French Oak 19 year). Unfortunately, they’ve done it again. While this is a nice whisky, particularly for enjoyers of sherry bombs, there is very little that tells you this is a Bowmore or even a peated whisky. Blind me to this and I probably would have guessed it to be a sherried Speysider or even a Glendronach. Certainly not a bad whisky, but certainly one that the distillery has managed to neuter. Perhaps it will change with more bottle open time, but I’m not holding my breath.

Final Score: 83.

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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.