Bowmore 1971 18 Years Sestante (ABV 40%) Bowmore

DESCRIPTION

An 18 year old bottling of 1971 vintage Bowmore from Italian independent Sestante.

TASTING NOTES (by Whiskyfun)

Colour: pure amber. Nose: oh, it’s fabulous! Starts on a blend of caramel (Werther’s) and sea breeze, very expressive and not tired at all. There is something sulphury but those notes are rather pleasant – not disturbing, in any case.
It really smells like honeyed oysters (does that exist? Maybe!), with also great notes of earl grey tea, very old Sauternes wine (yes, like an Yquem)… Keeps developing on notes of other wines that are made out of concentrated grapes (straw wine, Aszu Tokaji)… And always these superb coastal notes that balance the whole (but there isn’t any peaty sensation I should add). It gets then even more concentrated, with lots of sultanas… Just superb and the sulphury notes have now vanished. Mouth: oh, very sweet, probably a little fragile at the attack but starting on very old high-end sweet wine again (no list, that would be oenopornography). The smoky notes are quite discrete… Quite some chocolate and mocha, Oriental pastries… Gets then spectacularly spicy, on white pepper, cloves, even a little paprika and quite some cinnamon. What’s surprising is that it’s gaining power after a few seconds… And we have also lots of ripe blackcurrants, raspberries and even blueberries (watch your teeth). Really exceptional, I must say. Probably more aerial than the OB’s from the same era, yet showing quite some oomph… The finish is very long, at that, perfectly balanced, on candied fruits, spices and old sweet wines (again). I think it deserves no less than 93 points (and it’s a 40% whisky!)

PRODUCT SUMMARY