The second bottling in the Master’s Selection range captures ‘synchronised creativity’, bringing together whiskies matured in American oak hogsheads and Sherry butts. Distilled in 1997 and 2000 respectively.
Appearance: Dark honey. A hairline jagged and beaded swirl mark with a corrugated film with many medium legs.
Nose: Charred pizza pineapple, sweet spices, oak and distant smoke. There’s a citrus edge too: lemon refresher bar and blackberry boiled sweets. Stewed forest fruit pie with a buttery pastry and brown sugar.
Palate: OOh, thick and full of sugar-coated blackberries. Honey, buttery pastry and a touch of those sweet spices again (cinnamon and nutmeg). There’s a lovely rich and comforting feel to the palate, it’s an end-of-evening treat. A slightly drying oak and salted chocolate.
Finish: Medium in length. The pastry, sweet spice and buttery notes linger for some time. That chocolate note also persists. Faint spearmint too.
Overall: Finally a Bowmore I can get on board with. The higher ABV works wonders on the pleasant and well-balanced elements of the dram. Amazing what can happen without diluting.
