Bowmore 18 Year Deep & Complex

Nose: Like aged, musty oak closets that have been waxed for decades. A hint of smoky salinity—reminiscent of a fireplace burning pine logs in a living room. Candied orange peel, bramble jam, and toast with brown bread, plus dried dates and figs. It evokes creaking stairs leading to a medicine cabinet in an old, damp bathroom smelling strongly of iodine, wintergreen liniment, and sulfur powder. Palate: A gentle yet firm start, grounded in dark fruit and berry flavors, but tinged with vegetative decay and brackish smoke. More smoky notes emerge quickly, with an iodine and menthol sharpness. There's a red berry/grape sweetness, but the texture is simultaneously oily and dry, almost styptic. Hints of coal tar and a touch of salted licorice. Finish: Medium to long, featuring smoky, briny, sour peat, and bitter citrus, concluding with a dark chocolate aftertaste, lingering ashen smoke, and a mist of menthol. Ah, Bowmore... the mystery of Bowmore. I both adore and detest you. The deep mahogany color comes from a significant amount of E150a added. Yes, it's a TRE bottling, meaning they deceive the unsuspecting consumer with color and chill-filter the spirit excessively. It's a shame, Bowmore; you should be a leader in the industry, not perpetuating these practices. The aroma is aged but flawed. A musty, foul quality suggests decay rather than maturity, and there's an unsettling tension between alluring and repellent. One moment, I detect the deep, aged oak and peat-smoke core; the next, something ghastly and sulfurous creeps in from the gloomy, moonlit salt waters of Loch Indaal into my darkened room. The palate is sour cereal, brackish, and slightly metallic, masked by very sweet sherry (it's remarkable how these contrasts neutralize each other on the palate). It shifts from sharp and bright to dull and cold, then hot and deep. The standard Bowmore 18 offers refined and composed complexity, with notes of walnuts, old leather, pipe tobacco, and orange marmalade. It's the well-behaved one; this is the wicked twin locked away. I'm torn on how to score this. While one part of me appreciates its eerie strangeness, another sees it as a clumsy failure, another in a long line of disappointments from Bowmore over the years. It's certainly deep, but is it truly complex, or just a chaotic mess? I cannot rate this as "Good," so it falls to the next tier. The typical price in Australia of $185 is ridiculous. I found it for $110, which is just about acceptable value. Oh, a little water dramatically improves it and greatly enhances the enjoyment – highly recommended. It's one of the rare peated and heavily sherried whiskies where water doesn't introduce rubber or plastic notes but actually softens the peat, significantly improving the profile, especially by balancing the brine with sweetness. "Above Average": 81/100 (3 stars)

Chill filtered... ✔️ Lots of E150... ✔️ 43% ABV... ✔️ Do I care? No! Why? Read on... I notice many whiskies are judged on these criteria here, but I think what truly matters is how it smells, tastes, and most importantly, how much you enjoy it. Do I enjoy this one? Immensely! This has a lovely deep chestnut color (yes, E150, I know...) that complements the whisky's overall darker profile, so no issues here. The aroma is its strongest point; I could just pour a dram and keep smelling it from the glencairn for hours... There's a smoky peat/chocolate combination that hits your senses immediately upon nosing the glass, but soon after, more emerges: dark fruits join the party, especially figs, plums, and ripe cherries, all coated in smoked chocolate... Absolutely delicious! 😋 The palate is also delightful, though a bit thin (my only complaint). You can sense the sweet PX influence, and there's less peat and more spice than the nose suggests, but something indefinable keeps me sipping it repeatedly. Perhaps it's the overall balance, or maybe the finish, which is much smokier than the palate and a pleasant surprise. Anyway, this one (in my opinion) stands alongside Lagavulin 16 and Dalmore 18 as a great whisky, despite the aforementioned "flaws" that they all share.

Aroma: Smoked wood, blackberries, Concord grapes, and a hint of eucalyptus oil. Taste: Not particularly sweet, but a grape candy flavor emerges through a very strong dry, woodsy taste. Some tarry peat is also present. Finish: A lingering dry smoked wood and eucalyptus oil. Medium length. This was quite a disappointing bottle overall, despite being relatively inexpensive for an 18-year-old scotch ($101 CAD). It makes me question whether the standard 18-year-old is even worth trying.

Nose: The color suggests sherry, but the aroma is intriguingly funky with peat, reminiscent of dry autumn leaves and licorice. There are also notes of salted roasted almonds, dried apricots, sea salt, and possibly chocolate. Palate: Flavors of salted toffee, dried apricots, spicy ginger, and mint transition into a long, warming finish with sea salt, cherries, and dark chocolate. Overall: This presents a robust and complex flavor. It skillfully blends aged Speyside character with Islay peat, creating a harmonious and multi-layered experience.

Nose: A delightful aroma. Strong sherry cask scent, vanilla, light fruits, sweet toffee. Palate: Does not live up to the nose. Very light, less sweetness, and a thin mouthfeel, not as silky as expected. All the components are present but lack vibrancy. Finish: Quite a pleasant finish. A little spice lingers, but again, it's very light. A decent whisky, but I feel a bit let down by the initial anticipation.

After several months of allowing the bottle to breathe and re-tasting over 10 months, I must admit I don't care for this one much. The flavor profile isn't very appealing to me and is somewhat off-putting. I won't buy it again, and this bottle will last a very long time.