Review by: Raygun

A quick note before anything else for the sake of transparency. This review was done with an industry sample provided free of charge, with no expectations beyond drinking them. As always, I do my best to provide my unbiased opinion, and readers can decide how they want to take this review. For more information, see our Ethics & Transparency statement.

The Artist Series is a yearly line of high-end single casks from LMDW featuring bespoke labels by a contemporary artist. This 13th series has labels by Iris Scott. It’s a very pricey series, and hence I hadn’t had any before. Was fortunate enough to get a full set of samples of this year’s to be able to try them, concluding with this Bowmore. Reviewed from a sample. Rested about 15 minutes.

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Distillery: Bowmore    

Bottler: La Maison du Whisky   

Region/style: Islay single malt Scotch

ABV: 56.2%. Cask strength.   

Age: 21 years. Distilled in 2001 and bottled in 2023. 

Cask type: Refill barrel, 108 bottles. 

Color: 0.6 old gold. Natural color and non-chill-filtered.

Price: A cool $1000

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Nose: Classic Bowmore smoke. Some tropical fruit, with mango and lime, but not nearly as tropical as some Bowmore. Grass. Even a bit of tomatillo salsa.             

Palate: More mango, a favorite of mine. Like smoky mango pudding or sorbet. Lime, some caramel, and medium smoke. Good level of sweetness and clean woodsmoke. An herbal touch comes out, something like rosemary.      

Finish: More smoky mango, joined by vanilla. Roasted tomatillos. The grassiness is back.   

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Conclusion: A very good Bowmore, if not reaching the heights of some others I’ve tried. Has some classic notes of clean smoke and the tropical fruit that Bowmore often has, although not as foregrounded as some others. The roasted tomatillo flavor is fun. Well balanced; just doesn’t have that extra gear to make it something special.  

Buy a bottle? It’s $1000. One. Thousand. Dollars.

Score: 84

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Scoring Legend:

• 95-100: As good as it gets. Jaw-dropping, eye-widening, unforgettable whisky. (Convalmore 36)
• 90-94: Sublime, a personal favorite in its category. (Bruichladdich Black Art 4.1)
• 85-89: Excellent, a standout dram. (Ledaig 13 Amontillado)
• 80-84: Quite good. Quality stuff. (Tomatin 18)
• 75-79: Decent whisky worth tasting. (Glen Scotia 15)
• 70-74: Meh. It’s definitely drinkable, but it can do better. (Aultmore 12)
• 60-69: Not so good. I might not turn down a glass if I needed a drink. (Glenmorangie 10)
• 50-59: Save it for mixing. (Old Pulteney 12)
• 0-49: Blech. (Muirhead’s Silver Seal 16)