Bowmore 21 Year Hunter Laing “The Kinship” 2018 Release (blind!)

Review by: The Muskox

This is blind #2 from my whisky club. Blind #1, was, uh, interesting. Now I know that the whiskies in this set can potentially be thousand-dollar bottles. This next sample was tasted with that fact in mind.

Distillery: Bowmore.

Bottler: Hunter Laing.

Region: Islay.

ABV: 53.2%.

Age: 21 years. Bottled in 2018.

Cask type: Two refill hogsheads.

Price: N/A, sample.

Color: 0.2, Pale straw. Natural Color. Non-chill-filtered.

Nose: Okay, this is an old Islay whisky. Very fragrant and floral, sweetly grassy. Some lemongrass and banana. Oh, there’s soft old peat. Rather salty and seafoody – shrimp scampi. Slightly gluey and maybe little bit lactic.

Palate: Proof is moderately high. Arrives softly and sweetly, very floral, violets, lemon zest, and slightly chalky. Earthy peat smoke, salted fish, lake water, lots of wet rocks. Petrichor and more flowers.

Finish: Medium-length, very sweet. Honey-glazed old-school peat smoke. Some paraffin maybe. Very floral again. Lingering earthy character. Fresh peaches and pears. Rich and earthy. Goat cheese? Petrichor and minerals.

Possible SMWS bottling name: “Fish flowers with peat petals”

Conclusion: Pretty tasty – a nice mix of florals and strong savoury smoke.

This strikes me as an old peated whisky… this could even be another Laphroaig. The pungency of the peat and the seafood have me thinking Lagavulin or Ledaig. I have no experience with really old whisky from either of those distilleries. It’s not quite as rounded as I’ve come to expect from old Caol Ila, but based on the colour the casks were way less active in this whisky than the old Cadenhead’s Caol Ilas I’ve tried. I wonder if it’s Port Ellen or something stupid like that. It’s so floral that I’m thinking Bowmore again, but with the lack of tropics and with smoke this intense it’d have to be late-80s/early-90s. Oh, I guess it could be Ardmore. Grassy, mineral, earthy peat… that could work.

I’m really not sure what this is. Shortly after getting the reveal on the first blind, having just guessed Bowmore, the guy who runs the group commented: “Can’t wait to hear the_muskox’s thoughts on whisky number 2”. I’m gonna go with Bowmore again.

Guess: Single malt, Islay, heavily-peated, 15-20 years old, ~50%, refill casks.

Shot in the dark: 1989 Bowmore?

Final Score: 85.

Post-reveal thoughts: Maybe slightly aided by that comment, but I’ll take the W! I had to guess Bowmore with this level of intensity of violets. There’s no vintage statement, but given this was bottled in 2018, my guess on that was probably wrong. Incidentally, this really isn’t my favourite Bowmore – it’s missing a that tropical richness that I really love.

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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