Bowmore 10 Years Old Tempest Small Batch Release No.1 (2009) 70cl

Bowmore 10 Years Old Tempest Small Batch Release No.1 (2009) 70cl

The Bowmore we all know and love albeit at higher cask strengths and not the 40-45% we are used to. This is an experience!

Bowmore 10 Years Old Tempest Batch 1 is the first release in the series. It matured for 10 years in first-fill bourbon barrels, before being bottled in 2009 at a cask strength of 55.3%. The whisky is sweet and spicy, with notes of vanilla, citrus and orange, followed by peat smoke and a hint of sea salt. The finish is long, lingering and fresh.

The sweet-tinged, oaky nose gives no indication of the fantastic maelstrom of smoke and spice that follows on the palate. This may be the best 'standard' distillery-bottled Bowmore of the 21st century.

Tasting Notes

NOSE

Very appetising whiffs of smoke and sweetness: iodine, coal and wet bonfire balanced with forward notes of barley sugar, honey and a hint of marmalade and cream toffee. Pleasantly oaky. Develops on summer fruit squash and faint hints of the exotic fruits that much older Bowmores are famed for. Also a pleasantly musty spice.

PALATE

Big bonfire notes, quite fiery. BIG spicy black pepper and chilli notes, wrapped in thick wood and coal smoke. Much more savoury and powerful than suggested by the nose.

FINISH

The dusty oak notes from the nose emerge as the conflagration of coal and smoky spices fades. Finally some sweetness very late on.

COMMENT

The best 'standard issue' distillery-bottled Bowmore we've had in years.

*Minor marks on tin

55.3% ABV

70cl