I recently attended a Friends of Laphroaig tasting event that also featured some bottles from its sister Beam-Suntory brand Bowmore. I'm not an age snob (see previous review of Laphroaig 30 Ian Hunter for a longer explanation), but this is a knockout of a dram. It is heavily fragrant, with an alluring mixture of dark chocolate, raspberry coulis, and woodsmoke on the nose. The palate is richer than the ABV, while the bite is lower: toffee, more peat, and stewed fruits swirl together. I have found port finishes to be very hit and miss for Islay whiskies, with Laphroaig's 2013 Cairdeas Port Wood being an all-time high and Kilchoman's recent port finishes to be off-putting. This is a very successful port finish that reminds me of that old Laphroaig, albeit costing 5 times as much! This dram's final notes are classic sweet-and-peat, with more smoke than I'd expect for a scotch that's just a few years younger than I am, and I was sorry to see it go.
About this bottle
Bowmore 27 Year Port Cask is the final bottling in the Vintner's Trilogy following the 18 Year Double Matured Manzanilla and 26 Year French Oak Barrique releases which were both released in late 2017. Port Cask was matured entirely in Bowmore's famous No. 1 Vaults Warehouse on Islay with the first 13 years spent in ex-bourbon barrels. The whisky was then transferred to port pipes for the final 14 years of maturation. It is bottled at 48.3% ABV and expected to be released in fall 2018.
How it tastes
Measured across 14 flavor axes. Tap a note to find other bottles that lead with it.
Reviews
Showing the most detailed of 4 parsed reviews.
★★★★★ Bowmore Vertical 7 of 7 It is the oldest whisky of the day and it has aged in a port barrel, all to please me. Unfortunately, it's an instant love at first sight and at $740 a bottle, it's a bit the same feeling I have when I admire Kate Upton, an inaccessible dream. But in life, it's good to dream and at least I had the chance to dip my lips in this nectar of the gods and I can't say the same with the beautiful Kate. Who knows, maybe one day!
The best of the vintners with loads of red fruits, tropical fruits, plums, salinity, and smoke. Nose: Raspberries, Luxardo Cherries, Salted Toffee, Blueberries, Smoke, Honey, Iodine, White Chocolate, Cherry Cola, Roses Palate: Raisins, Plums, Iodine, Smoke, Coal, Blueberries, Grapefruit, Figs, Guava, Pineapples, Luxardo Cherries, Raspberries, Nutella Finish: Raspberries, Luxardo Cherries, Watermelon, Peaches, Grapefruit, Plums, Figs
Tasted at The Whisky Show London 2018
Tastes like this
Closest flavor profiles across the whole catalog.
