Bowmore 10yo, 1988 Glasgow Garden Festival

Pale straw appearance, 40% ABV. On the nose: like a bakery. Bread, yeast. Citrus meringue and scorched hay. Horse stable, burnt grass, and silicone. Delightful, very yeasty and buttery. A faint citrus profile in the background. After a few sips, the same notes intensified. Vanilla sponge cake. After a third sip, it became "beachy": salty, sandy. On the palate: very sweet. A vanilla wet cake, then after 5 seconds, gunpowder. A long time has passed since the last spirit that provided me the "gunpowder note; I thought I had lost it, and I have now found it again. Fireworks. After a first sip, it became even sweeter, then a minor salt bomb erupted. It begins very sweet then shifts to a deep saltiness. Aftertaste: seems a little uncomplicated. Salty, maritime. Quite lengthy for a 10-year-old dram. Pepper and the salt used for grilling a steak. Overall: This legendary spirit is very direct and not complex at all, but that does not make it a poor single malt. It is actually quite enjoyable and rewarding, but a little plain in my view. My rating for it is a well-earned 82 out of 100, and I believe that when it was sold at the original retail price, it was a good value.