Bowmore Vintner's Trilogy 26 Year French Oak Barrique

I just finished my second dose of Pfizer’s COVID vaccine and can sense the world slowly starting to return to normal again. To celebrate, I debated on a few samples, but decided on opening up a full bottle to have a few drinks of something special. This is a 26 year Bowmore that was released as part of the Vintner's trilogy and was matured first in ex-bourbon barrels for 13 years before being transferred to French oak wine barriques for another 13 years before being bottled at 48.7% ABV. The first smell is overwhelming with tannic oak and peat mixing together with dark chocolate covered candied bacon. I handed my wife the glass to take a nose and taste and her first thoughts are “Oh, this smells just like the hamster bedding I would get as a kid.” My initial reaction to that was “What the fuck”, followed by receiving the glass and taking a smell to think “Yep, sure enough, there’s fucking peated hamster bedding in my whisky.” I let the glass sit out for 30 minutes to let it open and the hamster bedding of fresh pressed cedar notes calm down and go into the background more, but are still very much a part of this whisky. Pushing past those heavy cedar notes you are rewarded with a nose that starts with a campfire next to the ocean then balsamic vinegar and strawberry puree reduction glazed over angel food cake leading to candied bacon wrapped in dark chocolate, figgy pudding covered in a rich bourbon caramel, roasted chestnuts then old tannic oak and leather with a mild alcohol burn. The taste is a rich viscous mouthfeel starting with rich bourbon caramel, strawberry jam on charred sour dough bread, ocean brine with light peat, chocolate covered candied bacon, roasted chestnuts, ginger, old tannic oak and leather with medium ethanol burn that finishes long with bourbon caramel, balsamic and strawberry syrup, vanilla cupcake, campfire ashes, ocean brine, tannic oak, leather and dark chocolate covered candied bacon that lingers for minutes. For the age, the peat is still very present and not as light as older peated expressions tend to be. The oak is big on this and those tannins almost overpower the whisky, but the wine influence has added nice strawberry and balsamic flavors that complement it nicely. A great whisky to drink, celebrate the slow return back to normal life and hopefully be able to share with a few friends soon.

Vintner. Every time I hear “vintner’ I think of my friend, who we”ll call ‘S”. I was doing my MBA while she was a senior at same university. Her father was a retired Goldman Sachs exec who owned a winery in Napa. You see, S came from a very conservative upper crust family. When you are worth in the billions, you are expected to behave in a certain way. And S was far from that ideal behavior. She was living with a guy who surely wouldn’t fall into the category of “status appropriate” for her parents. He was high most of the times. But...it turned out that I fell into that “marriage appropriate” category. I had the educational pedigree and child-of-immigrant-parents work ethic apparently that her dad approved of, So...whenever her parents came to visit, I was presented as the boyfriend. This meant holidays at their ranch in Wyoming, and Christmas weeks at their ski house in Utah. Every one of these visits always had her father’s top shelf wine bottles from his winery. One thing I distinctly remember from his wines was the taste of blackberry. All his top shelf private family-only bottles had a taste of blackberry. And I distinctly remember that, back then, I kept thinking “ what’s the big deal? I can get blackberries for $2/carton at the local Kroger’s “. Yes. Such is the life of a fake boyfriend. Skiing in Utah, horseback riding in Wyoming, and the much needed departure from campus bar Bud Lights to private bottles of Napa Pinot Noir wines that tasted like blackberries. And that takes me to this pour. @pkingmartin graciously sent over a sample. This is one of the best Bowmores I’ve had. Mocha, blackberries, cherry, and surprisingly...a hefty dose of peat, which I would think would’ve reduced at this age. I mean, the blackberry takes center stage, but the peat presence is there. But it’s the blackberry that has the limelight here. And we’re not talking $2/carton blackberries, but the Whole Foods organic ones that are $7/carton. So...wherever “S” is nowadays, I’m envious of her husband...he’s probably sitting somewhere in a Wyoming ranch or Utah ski chalet having wine that taste like this amazing bottle of Bowmore Vintner. Damn. If only I played my cards right... Thanks @pkingmartin for this pour!

Thanks to @pkingmartin I have an opportunity for a fun side-by-side: Bowmore 26 Vintner's Trilogy, and Single Malts of Scotland Bowmore 25 (not on the app yet, maybe I'll add it later). The SMoS simply says "hogshead" for cask type. These are just the 2nd and 3rd Bowmores I've had (the other being the OB 24 Port Matured). Started with the 25. Nose has a lot of custard, vanilla, a touch of honeysuckle, and a wisp of smoke. Pretty nice. On the palate there's dry peat, custard, oak. The finish is a little more floral and oaky. The peat smoke is still front and center despite 25 years in the barrel. Mouthfeel is moderately thick. It's a pretty bare-bones Bowmore that showcases the distillate, and while I was initially a little underwhelmed considering the $500 or so price tag, it's growing on me already. 86/100. On to the 26. The nose is rich, tannic, lots of dark fruit, prune, hint of smoke and dried leaves. On the palate there's some cocoa, prune, blackberry, lightly smoky, with tannins, oak, tea, spice, and a little more peat coming through on the finish. The wine barrel definitely overpowers the distillate, but not quite to the point where the distillate becomes interchangeable. 89/100

Sometimes you just have co-workers who are way to generous! Got to have a dram of this at work and basically sipped on it for a few hours. I honestly couldn't believe that he was even sharing it. Took this back to my desk and decided to let it carry me the rest of the day into my upcoming vacation tomorrow. Nose: Reminds me of walking into the cellars that my family had in Kazakhstan. A damp wet smell, but filled with fruit and herbs. A definite oak taste, but quickly overpowered by cocoa combined with prunes, and raisins. Taste: The taste explodes with flavor. The cocoa and prunes continue, but slowly turns a bit more sweet. More along the lines of raisins, and liquorice. Finish: Gotta love how smooth this goes down. A nice dark fruit finish with those prunes, raisins, and liquorice. However at the end a short and pleasant pepper after tase. Overall impression: Wow, this is a very nice dram and once I get rich I would love to have this on my shelf.

Two whisky things that are more likely than not to disappoint me are Bowmore and wine cask maturations. The former has taken its core range in a tooth-rotting direction that I wouldn’t recommend to anyone, while the frequent application of heavy Cabernet-style finishes at many distilleries too often feels like lipstick on a pig. Here though everything is in balance. The wine cask has added mouth-puckering tannins that make for a deliciously dry dram. There’s a pleasing viscocity to the liquid too and the berry notes from the wine are subtle rather than overpowering. A very satisfying pour, courtesy of @pkingmartin.

Nose : Peat smoke is present from the start, but is instantly tempered by a wine sweetness. Matured wine is a prime in long run, alongside a touch of spicy vanilla. Taste : Wow! Sweet smoke is present, but the wine finish is the real star. Its sweet malty, woody, grapey, chocolatey composition is phenomenal. Finish : Finish is lenghty, with the wine present and slowly going away. The smoke is really faint up to that point but present for a long moment. An amazing bottle! Perfectly balanced with a distinct taste. An artisan’s work!