Bowmore 15 Year Old Douglas Laing Old Particular 1999 Single Refill Cask DL10583 (2014) 70cl 1 of 655 Bottles Bowmore is the oldest distillery on the island of Islay in...
Bowmore 15 Year Old Douglas Laing Old Particular 1999 Single Refill Cask DL10583 (2014) 70cl
1 of 655 Bottles
Bowmore is the oldest distillery on the island of Islay in Scotland. This here is a single cask variety of a 15 Year Old Bowmore giving it that little extra strength & cask taste. It is vatted from one refill bourbon butt. This was released 10 years ago so now is the opportunity to try it once again. Most of them have been drunk and finished and now it is extremely rare to come across another of these.
A 1999 vintage Bowmore from indie bottler Douglas Laing as part of the Old Particular range. Distilled in September, it was aged in a refill sherry butt for 15 years, yielding 655 bottles in December 2014.
Tasting Notes
Nose : Opens with a bonfire & charred oak quality mingled with ripe, dark fruits cocoa and spices
Palate : Initially sweet - developing to gentle peated malt, soft leather, dark chocolate & burnt brown sugar
Finish : Long- a smoked meat style with dark toffee, stewed fruits & the cocoa reappearing
About Bowmore
Bowmore is located in the centre of Islay and occupies a central role in the island’s whiskies. The distillery has retained its own floor maltings which account for 40% of its needs and when mixed with malt from the mainland results in a medium peated spirit.
Its smoke, reminiscent of beach bonfires, mingles with a distinctly saline note, flowers, cereal, citrus and underneath a touch of tropical fruit. It is this character which, when matured in refill casks for a long period of time, becomes the primary aroma, the peat seemingly disappearing completely.
A significant percentage of the make is aged in ex-Sherry butts which take Bowmore off in another direction – one of dark fruits, chocolate, coffee, citrus and smoke. The extensive range picks and chooses between these extremes. A significant percentage of the distillery’s whisky is matured on the island, with the distillery’s No.1 Vaults being held to have the most extraordinary microclimate. This chill, damp environment – the vault is below the level of Loch Indaal and one wall makes up the town’s sea wall – is seen as ideal for long-term maturation.
There are claims that Bowmore’s distillery started operation in 1779, but there’s no evidence of whisky being made until a certain John Simpson took out a licence in 1816. It wouldn’t be until 1837 when the Glasgow blending firm, Wm & Jas. Mutter took over that it began to gain traction and reputation. In 1841, Windsor Castle requested a cask of Bowmore – this being a time when the English palate was considered too delicate (or Scotch too bold). As often happens, the distillery passed through a number of hands before in this case it was bought, in 1963, by broker Stanley P. Morrison. The Morrison era saw the start of what is recognised as a legendary period in Bowmore’s history – its mid-1960s bottlings are legendary.
The distillery was substantially modernised with an innovative heat recovery system not only cutting down on fuel bills but creating sufficient excess hot water to heat the town’s swimming pool. In 1989 the Japanese distiller Suntory bought a stake in the distillery and took full control in 1994, the year after the ground-breaking Black Bowmore was launched. This 100% Sherry-aged release was sold for what at the time was seen as the ludicrously inflated price of £100.
In 2014 Suntory bought Jim Beam which, from an Islay perspective, sees two of Islay’s most iconic single malts (Bowmore and Laphroaig) under the same ownership.
48.4% ABV
70cl
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