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Bowmore 17 Year Old Reviews
- Distillery
- Bowmore
- Style
- Single Malt
- Release
- Unspecified
- Age
- 17 Years
- Alcohol
- 40% abv.
- Region
- Scotland, Islay
- Bottled For
- Distillery
Established in 1779, Bowmore Distillery is one of the oldest distilleries in Scotland and nestles on the shores of Loch Indaal on the Inner Hebridean Isle of Islay. Bowmore is universally regarded as the best balanced of all the Islay malts, as characterised by its wonderfully rich and complex flavours.
Bowmore 17 Year Old
Review by Dramiel McHinson
- Color
- Smokey Amber
- Nose
- Touch of phenol and peat; in the middle sherry oak and late fall white grapes; hint of smoke.
- Body
- medium body, smooth and well balanced.
- Palate
- sweet, smoke and peat, getting drier on mid palate with buttery oak flavors, a touch of the late fall grapes from the nose.
- Finish
- Long, smooth, warm on fruit and smokey toast, slightly dry.
Well balanced for my taste with the flavors distinct and in harmony.
Bowmore 17 Year Old
Review by Anonymous
- Color
- Medium Amber
- Nose
- Peat, cocoa, toffee, very nice.
- Body
- Medium body, smooth like fine chocolate.
- Palate
- More toffee, but darker, medium peat, light apple, light smoke.
- Finish
- smoke gives way to light warmth, toffee and cocoa blend, then become more buttery.
Wow. Recommended by an Internet acquaintance, and I can't say enough about it. I love the darker tastes of Ardbeg and Talisker, but this whisky HAS to be around at all times.
Bowmore 17 Year Old
Review by Mishima
- Color
- Pale Straw - the light of 3 in the afternoon on an Autumn Day
- Nose
- Unfurls itself slowly in layers. Smoke and peat, not overwhelmingly, they play first and second chair. A malty undertone with trills of iodine, salt, and seaweed provides the main melody. After the first movement, subtle sherry notes come to the fore along with a rippling spicieness. Breath taking.
- Body
- Full and creamy.
- Palate
- At once malty sweet and whisky sour - notes of salt and spice, and those nigh ineffeable 'organics' take turns as the complimenting flavours.
- Finish
- The sourness of the palate stays while the sweetness fades. A brush of salt, iodine, and a fair bit of metal = copper actually, like biting a penny. Will stay with you until you eat something, smoke something, or brush your teeth. And then maybe you'll taste it with your breakfest the next day.
This is a whisky with a distinct personality. It is elegance and the sea - the captain's cabin if your will - everything you want from a maritime whisky, with subtlity, polish, and even gentlemanly restraint. A note: give this one plenty of air - grows both rich and mellow with a fair decanting.
Bowmore 17 Year Old
Review by ColoradoDram
- Color
- Orangy amber.
- Nose
- Lavender/violet flowers above all else, a little salty wet wood.
- Body
- Medium bodied.
- Palate
- Violet flowers everywhere. I can't taste the iodine/seaweed typical of Bowmore.
- Finish
- A very smooth, dry, salty, lightly-iodined and seaweed of medium length and heat finally emerges from the flowers. My favorite Bowmore finish of five tasted to date.
I swear this is the closest you can get to being a bee sucking nectar from a lavender bloom. When I'm in the mood, there is no better scotch to deliver the floral goods. It's very different from the wine cask finishes (Dusk, Dawn, Darkest), and lacks the freshness of the 12, but it is uniquely delicious and smooth.
Bowmore 17 Year Old
Review by Aussie Malt
- Color
- Amber sunset veiled by clouds over a field of long grass
- Nose
- softly spoken scents, with the creamy off the top of a pint of Guinness, mild peat and the smooth sweetnes of expensive hand soap
- Body
- So smooth, soft and sweet you can caress it in your mouth like a long lost lover on a cold winter's night, without worrying about being burned. The age gives it a wonderful softness like your lover's silky freshly conditioned hair running through your fingers.
- Palate
- Buttery puff pastry wrapped around a subtle sausage roll with hints of peat and creamy toffee. Perfectly rounded and yet no flavours are truncated. You can still taste the rising thrill of spice, subtle smooth apple and oak. Not sweet, a perfectly balanced savoury entry
- Finish
- mildly spiced and yet sweet, smooth and lingering, warming like a soft kiss goodbye from a lover going away on holidays, but with promises of a long future together
Perfectly balanced, one of Bowmore's best and worth the extra over their 10 year old.