Whisky : Bowmore 14 Year SMWS 3.189 “Echoes of bonfires and funfairs”

Country/Region : Scotland/Islay

ABV : 58.4%

Cask : Refill Sherry Butt

Age : 14 Years (Distilled 25 Sept 1997)

Nose :  Leather studded lobster, spit roasted pork, used fireworks on New Years Day, and perfectly salted caramel.  The nose moves between memories of the sea, grilling in the barnyard, and sweet desserts.  Sticky toffee, slightly medicinal iodine, black-cherry Kool-Aide, sour plums, Hawaiian Sun juice, and tangerines.

Palate :  Medium bodied with nice viscosity and palate-coating oiliness.  First came sweet donuts and fried funnel cakes before a diesel powered generator came online.  Tangy strawberry guava, fresh cut grass, barnyard loft, muddled herbs, salted limes, and sweet caramel apples.  Sitting atop the Ferris Wheel admiring the county fair below— the midway food stalls, animal pens, generators— everything drifts up on the breeze.  A few drops of water brought out butter, candied nuts, milk chocolate, and leather.

Finish : Long and lingering sticky toffee with mild dryness.

Score : 8

Mental Image : Teenage Ferris Wheel Romance

Something Similar : Secret Islay 10Y; Lady of the Glen (similar fair, but in winter, more maple syrup)

Something Worse : Bowmore 12Y; Exclusive Malts (similar diesel/grill, less fruit, more salt)

Notes : An absolute stunner, this was everything I wanted from a teenage heavily sherried Bowmore.  The layers of flavor were distinctive and rich which gave this a beautiful complexity.  I loved sitting with this and sifting through the memories that surfaced with each turn of the flavor profile.  The profile varied between maritime elements of fish and salty sea, tropic fruits, barnyard funk, and burning diesel.  There was a lovely balance between them and no single element really stood out and dominated the others.

Without a doubt some of my enjoyment here was the very vivid memories it dredged up of the county fair and the sheer joy of being a kid and seeing all of the animals on display, eating fried sugary foods, watching fireworks, and snacking on sweet candied fruits.  This had everything and the SMWS codename was not far from the mark as the aroma and palate took me right back to the joy of stuffing a funnel cake in my mouth while trying not to be overwhelmed the lights, sounds, and smells.  A beautiful dram and everything I could want from Bowmore.