DRINK REVIEW: BOWMORE 12 YEAR OLD WHISKY

Whisky Tasting Notes

Bowmore 12 Year Nose: Steaming citrus Lemsip fighting through a blocked up nose – it’s comforting, but not overwhelmingly endearing. There are some floral notes if you search for them, but they’re more potpourri than a fresh bouquet. This idea of caramelised pineapple and tropical fruit as other’s have suggested was completely lost on me.

Bowmore 12 Year Taste: Surprisingly smooth for its age, with a prompt peppery punch. There’s a lot going on here: smoke from burning heather is carried across Gaelic skies and a prescribed honey lozenge you resent taking is prominent.

Bowmore 12 Year Finish: A bone dry finish, leaving a long ashy residue. There are clear traces of Islay’s trademark peat, but this isn’t cut from the same cloth as Caol Ila or Laphroaig – serve to your non-whisky drinking friends, who won’t know the difference.

Flavour 6/10    Value 8/10

Buy Bowmore 12 Year Whisky Here

Bowmore 12 Year Old Whisky Review Islay Tasting Notes
Awarded Silver Outstanding Scotch Single Malt – Islay – 2014 – International Wine & Spirit Competition

Drink Review: Bunnahabhain 12 Year Old Whisky

Whisky Tasting Notes

Bunnahabhain 12 Year Nose: Briney coastal air gently rolls up, while your burning matches get soaked in the rain. You recite Gaelic poetry from a damp notebook, with a tear in your eye.

Bunnahabhain 12 Year Taste: An oily, forceful 46.3% sherry tsunami that crashes with a surprising syrupy softness. A spice firework blooms and then vanishes, leaving a malty tang, flavours of hot nuts with very little peat for the region. It’s not the most complex of drams, but it’s honest and characterful.

Bunnahabhain 12 Year Finish: A medium-long finish with a more than respectable smoothness for its price point and alcohol volume. There’s a soft salted liquorice touch, with a splash of Dr Pepper sweetness.

Flavour 7/10    Value 10/10

Buy Bunnahabhain 12 Year Whisky Here

Bunnahabhain 12 Year Old Whisky Review
Awarded Gold Islay up to 12 Years Old – 2015 – The Scotch Whisky Masters
Bunnahabhain 12 Year Old Whisky Review
Awarded Silver Best Single Malt Scotch 12 Years – 2015 – International Whisky Competition

Drink Review: Bowmore 15 Year Old Darkest Whisky

Whisky Tasting Notes

Bowmore 15 Year Darkest Nose: Waking up hungover but excited on Christmas morning with tobacco still on your breath. It’s taking that first bite of robust mince pie, whilst warming up with a cosy hot chocolate, nostrils filling with steaming milky cocoa.

Bowmore 15 Year Darkest Taste: Thick rolling waves of burning wood, with clean pine air fighting to come through. Viscous, dark toffee flavours bring sweetness, with surprisingly very little peat.

Bowmore 15 Year Darkest Finish: A medium-long finish of sherry-drenched Christmas pudding made with too much nutmeg. A final oily, cinnamon-sugar note means you leave on good terms.

Flavour 8/10    Value 8/10

Buy Bowmore 15 Year Darkest Whisky Here

Bowmore 15 Year Old Darkest Islay Whisky Review
Awarded Gold Outstanding Scotch Single Malt – Islay – 2014 International Wine & Spirit Competition
Bowmore 15 Year Old Darkest Islay Whisky
Voted ‘Outstanding’ by the IWSC in 2014