Bowmore 15 Years Old Scotch Whisky Sherry Cask Finish Review And Tasting Notes
The Bowmore 15-year-old Scotch whisky sherry cask finish is a warm, highly mature spirit with oxidized and spicy undertones. Let’s say that all of the processing leads to a fruit that tastes like honey and vanilla and is thick and syrupy. Like almost all whiskeys from the Bowmore distillery, the peat acts as Ariadne’s thread to guide the senses and express the spirit.
And overall, the result is discreet. It turns out to be very velvety, smoky and pumped like a fruity muscle, but all in all, it is pleasant and well designed with the peat that innervates all these opulent suggestions to give gustatory tension. If it didn’t have peat, it would be mushy and unresponsive, but smoke is a vital fire in this case.
As the only negative side, such long aging in the sherry barrels has caused a caramelization of the fruit, making it syrupy, but it has also taken away freshness and momentum to the sip. If we want to summarize, it’s a sprinter: it starts strong, and seduces you, but is not particularly persistent.
Organoleptic characteristics of Bowmore 15 years old Scotch whiskey sherry cask finish
Sumptuous nose dominated by ripe and overcooked fruit, in alcohol, soaked in honey and toffee, floured in peat and baked in the oven to become caramelized. If you want to understand what effect aging in sherry barrels has on whiskey, try this Bowmore 15: it is the quintessence of oxidation and stylistic muscularity.
But this does not mean that it is trivial or monothematic or that you can taste only dates. On the contrary, it has intriguing spicy returns of coffee and cocoa, delicate and withered floral, and well-defined medicinal suggestions. In the background, there is always the Islay peat.
The variety is excellent and everything is declined with great aromatic precision: it is not a whisky that wants to enhance pure malt. On the contrary, it twists and folds it to impose a precise stylization, but this is not a problem. It is an interpretation like many others.
On the palate, it is warm and woody. The tannins are demanding and amplify the already enveloping structure of the distillate. The pace is slow. It moves a little with difficulty, dense, not syrupy, but oily. It is very velvety, spicy and smoky on the tongue. Almond finish, a drizzle of salt and iodine, a herbaceous glimmer, but it’s not that long as a sip. Final with precise closure of smoke. Degree of peaking: medium-low.
After 12 years of aging in barrels used to make bourbon, it spends the last 3 years in sherry barrels, where it is rounded up, enriching itself enormously.
Price
55 euros: an acceptable price for a good bottle.
Food Pairings
Chocolate, salmon terrines, brisket and pulled pork, chocolate cupcakes, cheesecakes, ciambella, Tiramisù or chocolate salami.