3x Old Bowmore Reviews: 1994, 1991 & 1989 [From Paris with Love]

Hi everyone,

Today I’ve got some older Bowmore’s.

Bowmore is a variable distillery from the indie’s. The 1980’s being the classic example, but the style can change hugely. This trio exemplify this pretty perfectly.

I tried the 1991 at Whisky Live Paris recently, although I can’t remember the name of the bottler. The other two were from Whisky Exchange Show in London.

Bowmore 1991 Butterfly Label 48.7%

Colour: Gold

Body: Full

Nose: Does Bowmore get MORE peaty as it ages?! Very peaty and mineral, sooty chimney, coal, tar, none of the floral notes I was expecting.

Taste: Sweet start, vanilla, honey, then very peaty for old Bowmore, layers of minerality. Sooty with a little orange.

Finish: Long length. Dry, sooty, some oak. A little tropical fruit right at the end. Mango.

25yo, bottled 2017. An old peaty one but not hugely complex. Seems like the peat is covering up the flavours beneath.

79/100

 

Bowmore 1989 'BBQ Mango Salsa' 46%

Colour: Dark Gold

Body: Medium

Nose: Slightly rubbery maltiness, cigarette ash, lots of lemon sponge cake.

Taste: Sweet, malt, orange, spicy ginger, Bowmore's malty smoke, lemon then sooty.

Finish: Long length. Smoke kicks up a notch with more soot and slight florals.

Think this was 26 years old. Not nearly as complex or balanced the 87 Wemyss I had, that you might remember got 92.

78/100

 

Bowmore 1994 Single malts of Scotland 52.8%

Colour: Gold

Body: Full

Nose: An oily, buttery SMWS style, meaty for a Bowmore, also slightly tropical, BBQ and mango. Lovely nose. Slightly Ardbeggian.

Taste: Sweet, tropical, meaty, BBQ ham, pineapple, slightly chalky. A bit of chilli too.

Finish: Medium length. A little spice, oak and chilli.

A really good Bowmore, quite a different style to usual.

83/100

Thanks for reading!

Scotch Reviews #465-#467

Whisky Network Reviews #530-#532

Network Average: 74.3

Best Score: 92

Worst Score: 22

0-49 Terrible

50-59 Bad

60-64 Just About OK

65-69 Ok to Good

70-74 Good

75-79 Very Good

80-84 Excellent

85-89 Superb

90+ Magnificent

Full Disclosure Disclaimer: I currently work as a Brand Ambassador for Penderyn Distillery. The views expressed here are purely my own and do not reflect the views of Penderyn Distillery or The Welsh Whisky Company. I try to maintain as much objectivity as I can but feel free to take my reviews with as big a pinch of salt as you like. Furthermore, my rating scale is NOT based on a Parker type wine scoring scale or a school/college/university % or A-F grade score. You can find more on my scoring here. I apologise for any seemly low or 'bad' scores given with my system and am sorry I can't say only nice things. Please keep in mind that I am ethically compromised and am unable to produce 100% unbiased reviews.

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