Bowmore Tempest 10 Year Old Small Batch Release #4 70cl
The fourth release in Bowmore's Tempest series, taking a small batch of first-fill bourbon casks and marrying them before bottling at cask strength. A classic example of relatively young and fully flavoured Bowmore.
Bowmore lies on the south eastern shore of Loch Indaal & was built in the late 18th century. The distillery produce whisky in the classic smoky style of Islay & favour ageing in Bourbon wood to Sherry oak, although exceptions are often made for special editions.
Tasting Notes
Nose : Sweet grain, coal smoke, concentrated fruit and spice, grapefruit skin, butter icing and a meaty hint hiding in the middle, but it all felt a bit ‘compressed’. With water it sweetened up, adding milk chocolate, sweet and sour apples, pine needles, grapefruit, cinnamon and burning spices appearing. The smoke expanded into a sweeter coal dust laden smoke, with some coal tar, wet wool and brine.
Palate : Neat, it started with sour cream and vanilla, lemon zest, bitter orange, brine and tar, before bursting into sweet coal and green wood. With water, there was lots of sweetness, with creamy fruit (cheap strawberry ice cream?) turning darker through liquorice to burning pine needles.
Finish : It seemed to finish quickly with a touch of wood and apple skin, but reappeared after a few seconds with vanilla, fruit skin and some floral notes. Water made the finish more consistent, with floral notes, fruity sweets, dark wood, and a mix of light and heavily toasted grain.
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.
55.1% ABV
70cl
