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Fellow Drammers,
This Saturday July 18th, starting at Noon PDT / 3pm EST / 20:00 in Scotland, we're delighted to welcome Bowmore's Distillery Manager David Turner as our guest speaker. David started working at the distillery in 1990, and his roots at the distillery go much farther back (his grandfather was a warehouseman at the distillery as well). Everything about Bowmore drips with history -- it's famous Warehouse No. 1 dates back to 1779, making it the oldest maturation warehouse in Scotland, and there is evidence that the distillery dates back even farther, making it one of the oldest distilleries in Scotland as well. They are also one of (I believe) 6 distilleries in Scotland with their own malt barns. And from the sounds of it, they don't do anything in a hurry -- a slow mash process, a long 90ish hours fermentation time, and they run the stills slowly too so that only the finest vapors carry over to become Bowmore's signature single malts.
We've put together a killer lineup as usual, with a lot of help from our friend and fellow Drammer, who of course we recently hosted for an epic Laphroaig tasting (he is the Master Brand Ambassador for Beam Suntory, which owns Laphroaig and Bowmore among other great Scotch distilleries such as Glen Garioch and Auchentoshan). As has been the norm lately, for the oldest bottles we were not able to secure 2 of each, so you'll have to choose between SET A and SET B below, but really there's no going wrong with this lineup:
- 25yo Bowmore Distilled in 1969 (SET A only) -
Bowmore distilled in the 1960s has achieved near legendary status in recent years, and this bottle (along with the SET B headliner) took most of our budget to secure, both well over $2,000/bottle. It was bottled presumably in 1994 at 43% abv, and we don't know much more about it (as for the cask type, it simply says "specially selected casks"), and from the back label we know it was matured at their legendary Warehouse No. 1. But we can pretty safely assume this represents a classic, golden age example of Bowmore. In the groundbreaking book by Michael Jackson Single Malt Scotch, he writes "In both geography and palate, the whiskies of Bowmore are between the intense malts of the south shore and the gentlest extremes of the north. Their character is not a compromise but an enigma, and tasters have found it difficult to unfold its complexity."
- 21yo Bowmore Distilled in 1972 (SET B only) -
Distilled 3 years later and matured for 4 less years, at first blush this might appear to be a distant runner up to its SET A equivalent, but on a closer look this may actually be the bigger draw, both because it's bottled at cask strength (49.1% abv) and it's "A special limited edition bottling from a single sherry butt warehoused in the distillery", which we take to mean was likely not finished in a sherry cask, but entirely matured in one, making this particularly interesting.
- Feis Ile Bottlings from 2017 (SET B) and 2019 (SET A) -
Once again, though we would have preferred to have attended the Feis in person and a large group of our Drammers were planning to go pre-covid, we will get the consolation prize of trying a couple of their recent festival bottlings. SET A will get the 15yo 2019 bottling, matured exclusively in first-fill ex-bourbon casks and bottled at 51.7% abv (only 3,000 were released). SET B will get the 2017 release, an 11yo marriage of sherry and wine casks bottled at 53.8% abv (only 2,000 were released).
- Devil's Cask Batches #2 (SET B) and #3 (SET A) -
The Devil's Cask series started in 2013 and was one of the most highly-sought after scotches of the year, selling out everywhere in mere seconds. Per the press notes, "Legend has it that the Devil once visited Islay. Heading straight for the capital, Bowmore, he initially wanted to hide in the town's church. As it's round, there were no corners for him to conceal himself, so he headed into the distillery and his in a cask. And when the distillery released the new dark expression, the name was easy to choose...". So you might think of this series as "extreme Bowmore" and that dark expression would of course be as a result of having matured the spirit for 10 years in a first-fill sherry cask. The first batch was released in 2013, and the second (which SET B will be drinking on Saturday) was released in 2014 with the same makeup -- 10 years in first fill sherry, bottled at a devilish 56.3% abv, and only 6,000 were released. In 2015 they shook things up with the "third and final" Devil's Cask batch 3 (which SET A will be drinking on Saturday), combining first-fill Oloroso with (newly) ex-PX Sherry casks, bottled at 56.7% abv. Note that some people found the sulphur notes on the first and second release a bit overwhelming and so preferred batch number 3, though generally batch number 2 is more sought after. It will be interesting to ask David why they discontinued this wildly popular series...
- 18yo SMWS Bottling 3.306 "Summer on Islay" (SET B only) -
This Bowmore bottling was distilled in February 1999, bottled presumably in 2017, and matured in a 2nd fill toasted hogshead (the tasting notes also say "previously in an ex-bourbon hogshead"). The label indicates it has notes of muscovado, honey and ice-cream sweetness, and plenty of smoke. A special thank you to Simon for contributing this from his personal collection. 59% abv.
- 17yo Official Bottling - (Set A only)
The 17 year old was a beloved Bowmore staple, and was sadly discontinued in 2007 (though to give way to the 18yo we'll be drinking later, so not as devastating a loss). While not impossible to find today, it is eagerly sought after, and again we have Simon to thank for contributing this from his personal collection. This is the older paper label version, and so likely was distilled in 2004 or earlier. 43% abv.
- Vault Edition First Edition: Sea Salt (Both Set A and B) -
This series was launched in 2016, the idea was a four-whisky release, where each whisky would highlight one characteristic of the distillery's style. The first release was intended to emphasize atlantic sea salt, using ex-bourbon casks, drawing a connection to the distillery's close proximity to the sea. 51.5% abv
- Dorus Mor Batch #2 (both SET A and B) -
This is the US release that corresponds with the "Tempest" bottlings elsewhere (reportedly a trademark issue with a winery in Washington State required the name change. The name "Dorus Mor" (chosen by fans in a Facebook poll over "Whirlpool") refers to a tidal gate near the Isle of Mull). These were very limited release, only 2,400 total, and bottled at cask strength. The result was widely heralded as unlike any other Bowmore released. This second batch release in 2014 was bottled at 55.9%. Matured in first-fill ex-bourbon barrels for a modest 10 years.
- Bowmore 18yo Current Core Range Release. (Both Set A and B) -
Last but certainly not least, this Saturday we'll all get a chance to taste their current core-range 18yo. As noted above, this was launched in 2007 to replace the then-discontinued 17yo. A combination of Oloroso sherry and ex-bourbon, we should confirm with David, but we've read that the 18 has a higher sherry-cask matured percentage in its blend. 43% abv.
That's our lineup! We can't emphasize enough how rare and expensive those headliner bottles are becoming, so this is a very special opportunity to try them with the man himself, David Turner! Spots for Saturday available at Drammers.com.
ZOOM LINK FOR SATURDAY:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84842031690?pwd=NjdTQStCNXVvYVFQaHYzZG94RkV0UT09
Meeting ID: 848 4203 1690
Password: 071820