Colour: deep amber. Nose: oh, a Christmas malt indeed, for it starts on some bold notes of gingerbread, mulled wine and fruitcake. Wine-poached pears, the Chinese plum sauce they serve with Peking duck, rosewater, coconut milk, ‘arranged’ rum, prunes in Armagnac, Havana tobacco… Err, I know that sounds like maltoporn, sorry… And beyond the sherry, you have the classical peat smoke, seaweed, brine… Whiffs of ginger ale, horse dung, bold notes of wet hay… Very interesting, it’s very different from both the older ‘ tropical fruitbombs’ and the younger ‘simpler or lavender-perfumed’ Bowmores. I must say I like a lot, it’s sort of ‘wild’ and very organic. And ah, there’s also quite some soy sauce. Mouth: oh-oh! Very liquoricy, resinous and meaty, with quite a maelstrom of very special flavours, mostly fermented fruits, wax, old rancio (oloroso indeed), herbs… There’s no point in listing them all, and this superb Bowmore has only one flaw in my opinion: the finish is a little too cardboardy and drying. But other than that, it’s a beauty, even if the usual fresh tropical fruits notes are missing.

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