The heart of the Bowmore range, the 12 year old exhibits some beautiful coastal notes with a gentle peat, it is the balance that the floral element presents that makes this a great entry bottling for Bowmore.
Coastal smoke and ash soon make way for bergamot, orange zest, lemon slices and some hay before becoming rather floral, heather smoke now competing with the ash.
Lovely and rounded, honeyed even, initially. Vanilla, perfumed smoke and coastal elements develop. Dark Peat. Blossom, oily sweetness.
Smoky and long. Sea spray, dry grass, a touch of ash and citrus.
Classic stuff and the heart of the Bowmore range. Smoky, fruity, coastal, delicious.
Very disappointing. It tastes like a mix of sweet, oily, peaty Islay and a low quality whisky. No body, no balance, sharp unpleasant burn in palate. At first it´s truly great in the nose, but after you taste it, greatness disappears immediately. Very lame aftertaste, a bit like the whisky would turned suddenly into a water. Difficult to explain, I´m not a native english speaker, but the taste disappears soon. Not even near for example Ardbeg 10 or Laphroaig QC. I´m quite sure that this whisky suffers much because of chill filtration. 12 years old? Really?
I’ve tried many bottles of bowmore 12 and my tasting notes were always somewhat different but the conclusion was always - unsatisfying. There is something to this islay that is just not on par with other islays. Sometimes its too sweet and unbalanced, other times I notice a very unpleasant plasticy smoke or taste unlike wood or charcoal smoke in other peated islays. It’s a more affordable islay here in Canada and I would love to like it but unfortunately I find it simply unpleasant to the point I can’t finish a bottle something that would never happen with laphroig, ardbeg or lagavulin.
A very easy drinker; smells great, it's light and sweet but still packs plenty of flavour.
My favorite among the cheaper Islays, my go-to whisky so rounded and balanced but still enough body for a Lagavulin-fan
Fantastic whisky. Great balance and wonderfully peated. Easily one of the best Islay whiskies I've tasted.
