Our star whisky this month is a 1989 Bowmore 16 year-old cask-strength, single-cask bottling at 58.6% ABV, bottled in 2005.

Bowmore is one of seven distilleries on Islay (pronounced Eye-la), which is one of the Hebrides Isles, off the southwest coast of Scotland. The other distilleries are: Bruichladdich, Bunnahabain, Laphroaig, Lagavullin, Caol Isla and Ardbeg. There used to be a seventh distillery, the famous Port Ellen, but it was closed in the 1980s and converted into a maltings for the island distilleries. Bowmore malts* some of its own barley and the rest it acquires from Port Ellen. Islay malts are generally known for their sea weedy, iodine-like phenolic character, though some like Bruichladdich and Bunnahabain are very lightly peated.  Water from the Laggan River is used in production and it flows over rich peaty bogs. Bowmore means great reef or sea rock and is also the name of the tiny town on Islay in which it resides.

Founded in1779 by farmer David Simpson, Bowmore is the second oldest legal distillery in Scotland and the oldest licensed distillery on Islay, producing a medium peated whisky at about 25-30 ppm.

The Japanese beverage company Suntory, which also makes a Japanese whisky of that name, owns Morrison-Bowmore, which runs the distillery.  Bowmore is available in an unspecified year “Legend” expression as well as 12, 15, 17, 21, 15, 30 and 40 year old bottlings. Its spirit is aged in American and Spanish oak, some stored in the famous Bowmore Vaults, below sea level with about 1/3 aged in olorosso sherry casks.

Jim Murray rates a similar 17 year-old Bowmore at 93. When describing the “nose” he says, “the peat could be made from helium so light is it. Even so it remains the dominant feature in a complex aroma.” Of its taste he says, “Long, fragile with the peat lingering but refusing to undermine the complexity.”  Michael Jackson has no rating for this Bowmore expression.

Information supplied by Lorne Mackillop, the bottler, describes the whisky thusly: “The whisky is a green-tingled pine color with slow thick legs. The nose greets you like and old friend coming in from the cold – this is Bowmore, composed of ozone, peat smoke, hints of seaweed and iodine, wood smoke and sea salt. Thick and chewy on the palate, it offers lots of smoke and dry baker’s chocolate at first.  Surprisingly soft for all its power, still a wee drop of water opens this one up, releasing the marshmallow sweetness, the ozone complexity and the brilliant seawater notes. Just a charmer!”

List Price $115.00    Club Price $74.99

Bowmore 16 Year Old Single Malt Scotch won a Gold Medal at the 2006 San Francisco Spirits Competition.  Other awards include:

World Spirits Competition 2003

Distiller of the Year+ - Morrison Bowmore Distillers

Best of Show Brown Spirit - Bowmore Single Malt 25 Year-Old

Double Gold - Bowmore Single Malt 25 Year-Old

Double Gold - Bowmore Single Malt 17 Year-Old

Double Gold - Bowmore Single Malt 30 Year-Old

Gold - Bowmore Single Malt 15 Year-Old

Gold - Bowmore Single Malt Dawn

Gold - Bowmore Single Malt Dusk

+Retired to the Hall of Fame after being awarded

this honor 3 years running

*Malt

Malt is the result of the malting process. Barley is soaked in water for several days and spread on the malting floor to allow the germination process to start. A succession of chemical reactions change the starch contained in the barley into sugar (maltose). Later sugar will be digested by yeast and produce alcohol.  Depending on the season, malting takes between 8 and 21 days. Constant attention has to be given to the process. Barley has to be turned over regularly to ensure a constant moisture and temperature and to control the germination of the barley grains. Drying the germinating barley over heat forced through a ventilated floor triggers the end of the germination. The source of this heat may or may not contain peat. The amount of peat burned on the fire heavily influences the flavor of the resulting whisky.

“I should never have switched from Scotch to Martini’s”

1. -(Humphrey Bogart’s last words)
   

We have two excellent Islay single malts to taste against our star Bowmore whisky:

Laphroaig distillery is currently owned by Beam Global Spirits and Wine/ Fortune Brands (which also owns Dalmore). Though it has been in continuous production since its inception in 1815 it has had many owners over the years, the most recent being Allied Domeq.  An aside regarding Laphroaig: during prohibition, importation into the US was allowed, because with such a strong flavor, it was presumed to be a medicine.

The Glenmorangie Company owns Ardbeg distillery, also founded in 1815.  Ardbeg was closed in 1984 and reopened in 1989 by Allied Domeq, closed again in 1996 and reopened under the Glenmorangie ownership in 1997.  Many believe its current spirit production is much less peaty than its former product, but it is still an excellent single malt and is said to be made from the most heavily peated malted barley in Scotland at 54 ppm peat.  (A new spirit not yet available, Octomore, is more heavily peated at 80 ppm and is distilled by Bruichladdich on Islay.)

Michael Jackson, rates Ardbeg 10 year old at 85.  Speaking of its body: “ a light-heavyweight, not muscle-bound with age.  Pound-for-pound, the hardest hitter in the Ardbeg team, though without the power conferred by the old maltings.”

Jim Murray gives the Ardbeg a 93.  He says of its taste: “Sweet, equally oily arrival with massive malt surge.  When that has passed the serious work of picking out the intense sea weedy, oaky complexity begins.”

Jump forward to the modern Laphroaig distillers, after much experimentation, the best results came when they aged the Scotch, first in American oak, then in these small, old-school barrels for seven months. In addition, they are not chill filtering, a process that was not around centuries ago, and opted instead to use “barrier filtering,” which simply traps small char particles.

The additional oak influence from the quarter casks has created a soft sweetness and velvety feel when first tasted, then the intense peatiness, so unique to Laphroaig, comes bursting through. The finish is long and alternates between the wood sweetness and the classic phenolic ‘peat reek’ like the waves on Islaly’s shore. 

This expression is too new for ratings in the versions of the Murray and Jackson ratings books I have, but Laphroaig 10-year old is rated 90 by Jim Murray and 86 by Michael Jackson.

“Moderation sir, aye, moderation is my rule.

Nine or ten is reasonable refreshment,

But after that it’s apt to degenerate

Into drinking”  An Old Highland Saying

1989 Bowmore 16year old, cask strength, single cask 58.6% ABV, bottled in 2005, non-chill filtered and uncolored

Ardbeg 10-year old, 40% ABV

Laphroaig quarter cask, no age statement, 48% ABV, non-chill filtered