Feis Ile Bowmore Day!
It’s been over 4 years since we first visited Bowmore on Islay. At that time, we were interested in visiting the distillery and touring their production area, as it’s rare that distilleries have their own malting floor. They do! In fact, 25% of their maltings are done on-site. I have a picture of S raking the barley to prove it! We ended up tasting their core range and our lovely tour guide offered to let us taste some of their past releases that weren’t available to buy. We made a HUGE mistake. We declined the offer saying that we only wanted to taste samples that we could buy.
We ended up agreeing that we did not like Bowmore (based on tasting their core range). So, we skipped Bowmore Day in Feis Ile 2022. Since we agreed to try all days last year (2023), we bought tickets to Meet the Distillery Manager (tasting). OMG we were so wrong for discounting Bowmore so easily! When meeting distillery manager David Turner, he was very personable and down-to-earth, and there were several moments where he had us giggling. The selected drams were each amazing, with really cool stories behind them! Some were not available (Manager’s Selection— which was our favourite) but others, including the Feis bottling, were extremely tasty. We ended up buying two bottles of the Anthology (1st edition) and one of the Feis bottles. With our opinions changes, we now loved Bowmore!!
So, this Feis Ile, I was enthused to share Bowmore with our two friends, neither of which were that familiar with Bowmore. The four of us queued at the entrance to Bowmore for about an hour. While doors opened at 10am, a queue didn’t really start forming until about 15 minutes until 10am. As pointed on in my other commentary on Feis Ile days, this seemed to be a recurring pattern. I believe this happens because the distilleries release their bottlings for the week and many have enough bottles to cover the people who make the visit to Islay. There were 3,500 bottles of their Feis expression this year.
Of course, before we go to Feis, we plan a budget and a bottle allocation for the plane. You are allowed to pack 7 bottles per checked in bag. As we had 3 bags, we could plan for 21 bottles, though our budget would probably limit us to less. I read on the Bowmore Feis page the words “Virgin American Oak Barrels” and I was certain “We will not buy their feis bottling.” If we learned anything from Lagavulin 2022, it’s that Virgin Oak is a bit of a letdown. If you search out other bottles aged in Virgin Oak, distilleries (like Deanston) charge a much lower price for these bottles. Taken together, there is an association between virgin oak and lower quality. I didn’t feel like Bowmore Virgin Oak would be worth £200 a bottle. I’ll tell you why I was wrong about Bowmore later on…
We queued at the opposite side of the entrance as we had the 10am tasting and were escorted through the gate promptly at 10am. While most of their Feis Day experiences sell out online in a few hours, they do have a few experiences that you can book day of (first come, first serve) at posted times and prices. For instance, they had cask experience tastings for £20 per person, with three different times and around 10/12 people per time. That surely is one reason to arrive early, and we ended up booking a cask experience in the warehouse.
When entering the distillery, we were allocated a tote bag with swag (this year Bowmore hat) and could choose between driver’s drams or 2 dram tokens. Their free drams, including the 12 year old and a 10 year old travel retail exclusive (interesting!). Then, we sat down for our tasting with the Managers (two- David Turner and Jonathan Fletcher), as both were on the job now with greater responsibilities at Laphroaig.
During the tasting, David and Johnathan talked about some of the ‘geekier’ aspects of production, which I absolutely loved, while we went through the drams. The drams included their feis release, a 23 year old Pork Cask from 1989, the 21 year old Distillery Manager selection (same as last year- we were very lucky!), Anthology 1 and Anthology 2. The 21 year old Distillery Manager selection was still my favourite but all drams were quite lovely. While I was not pleased that the Anthology bottles increased from £425 (Anthology 1 from last year) to £525 (Anthology 2), they were still quite worth the price at their age and profile. I’ll include the tasting notes on that page.
The Doctor and Bunny really enjoyed Bowmore, much like we experienced during last year’s feis. They said it was a pleasant surprise. Not only is Bowmore an excellent whisky, but they are also snazzy marketers and champions for sustainability. A couple we met ended up going on their Aston Martin experience (£800 per person), which now I secretly hope that it becomes something that we will do. I know S balked at the price, but the couple went on and on about how they treat you like royalty, provide you with quality food, and take you through the island and the distillery. The experience says it’s so many hours, but the couple mentioned that it was actually longer, as they experience was truly bespoke and they walked away with a hand-bottled whisky specific to the experience. Rare experience, rare whisky- truly a luxury brand that makes more accessible whisky for connoisseurs like myself.
Beyond the experiences that they cultivate around the brand, Bowmore is leading the way in sustainability. They have a closed-loop cooling system to reduce water usage. At one point, they had to stop production because of a water shortage at the River Laggan (their source). By using this new system, Bowmore has managed a 70% reduction in water usage! They are even trialing low-carbon barley (this is their second year trialing this). This barley doesn’t use ‘fertilizer’ but they have sheep so that fertilization occurs naturally.
After buying our 2 bottles of Anthology 2 and feis bottle (and having David sign them, which he does happily and even pours you an extra dram while he signs them), we left for Ardnahoe as the also have their day same day. I got instant FOMO later, as we heard that they gave away golden tickets to be able to buy a very rare bottle of Bowmore taken from a Mizunara Cask (Japanese oak). Our Neighbors who stay with the Mayor said that this was THE best whisky that they had ever had in their life. Instant FOMO. They tasted this during their feis warehouse experience. While they didn’t get one of the lucky golden tickets, one of the Neighbors went to Bowmore the next day when you could buy this whisky at 5am just so he had a good chance of buying it. They were lucky and ended up taking a bottle home. If you’ve tried this, what was it like??
Anyhow, we did return after visiting Ardnahoe for our Warehouse visit. After checking in, a tour guide led us through some back areas to a caged off area of the warehouse where 3 casks stood. We tasted two of them- a 17 year old Bourbon cask (Heaven Hill Cask) and a 25 year old Bordeaux cask from Chateau Le Grange. I was disappointed that the third was also not to taste, but it was a great price for the experience (£20pp). I will include the tasting notes in that area of the blog. After concluding the tasting, we were left to wander back to the main area (which was a bit confusing). It was getting pretty late in the evening, with Bowmore wrapping things up. We visited the Last Dram tent, where you can buy drams of very special bottles that are gone when they are gone, and then we called it a day.
Overall, Bowmore continues to surprise me with their innovation and mind-blowing expressions. I’m already dreaming about next year’s visit!
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This dram was selected by Callum Fraser for this year’s feis. It spent the first 4 years of its life in Bourbon barrels before being moved to American virgin oak barrels. While I questioned David about this dram and he confirmed that virgin oak casks can hide bad whisky, he said it can also bring out nuances in a good whisky. Ok, fair point.
On the nose, this dram gave off cream soda and wood spice. Nutmeg, vanilla, and pepper emerged as well. This led into a bit of coconut, and finally a wee bit of smoke.
On the palate, I immediately found cinnamon and a medicinal smoke and methol quality. The dram provided a bit more richness, giving me ripe cherries and figs. This transitioned to cigar ash as it became more delicate. I picked up bits of walnuts and nutmeg, followed by white pepper. Finally, it trailed off into a coconut cream.
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50.8%ABV. This was fully matured in port casks.
The nose offered me red orchard fruit, like plums, and a light sweet smoke. Then, it transported me back to my childhood when I drank Big Red soda and chewed Big Yum bubblegum. It became more sophisticated in my second nosing, bringing me nutmeg and red berries.
On the palate, I was treated to an explosion of flavours, starting with blueberries and balsamic drizzle. This wavered into a lighter honey and jammy black currants. The tartness faded as it became slightly sweeter, almost like strawberries. There was a bit of lemon custard and crème brulee. The finish gave me a bit of barnyard funk (yum) and menthol.
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51.7%ABV bottled in 2019 from 12 oloroso hogsheads At the time, these bottles sold for a jaw-dropping £250.
On the nose, I immediately got stewed fruits, raisins, walnuts and cinnamon. This evolved into balsamic drizzle and strawberry fruit leather (think fruit by the foot). And a delicately sweet smoke.
On tasting the dram, it gave a roundness that you’d find from brazil nuts with their skins on and pecan pie (a definite nuttiness). Thus nuttiness turned funky in a good way, and paved the way for notes of menthol to come through along with cherry cough medicine and coconut. The finish was lovely chipotle chilies.
My favourite dram of the day.
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50.2%ABV These 3,516 bottles were taken from oloroso hogsheads.
The nose gave off caramel and toffee along with demerara sugar, definitely a sweetie. Getting further into the dram, there were elements of nutmeg and cream soda. Cherries also came through, along with a nuttiness. Interestingly, when I continued to go back to the nose of this dram I picked up some curry powder and clover, a bit of grass.
Initially on the palate, I found chipotle powder. I underlined this note as it was bam! There was also menthol and cigar ash, providing the smokiness. On second taste there was a burst of fruit from mince pie and dark cherries. While I also picked up on grassiness, which made it quite complex and delicious, there was a chocolate ganache.
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54.8% £525 a bottle. These were all from 1st fill Bourbon barrels.
Nosing the dram gave off hints of lemon, chamomile, and wildflowers. It was almost like smelling a very nice hot tea. But then the dram gave me richer aspects like crème anglaise and croissants. The Bowmore spirit was still there, but you had to dig deeper to find the menthol, funk, and coconuts. Interestingly, it also provided a bit of guava too.
When tasting the dram it gave me shaved coconuts and dried papayas that you’d find in trail mix. It was definitely a tropical fruit dram. There was also some grassiness and funky smoke. The finish was very easy, almost like a Meyer lemon with icing sugar and vanilla.
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55.3% ABV
The nose was quite delicate- a bouquet of flowers and vanilla. There was a bit of saltiness that faded quickly and allowed tropical elements and sweetness to shine through from dried guavas, toffee, icing sugar, and pie. There were some hints of sweet peat, menthol, and a bit of licorice.
On the palate, root beer appeared, though this was a bit funky. A very interesting dram, I found melon and watermelon rind. There was an earthiness about it. At the same time flavours from black forest gateau peaked through- maraschino cherries, chocolate ganache. Still in the pastry shop, this turned more into pineapple upside down cake, using salted caramel to grill the pineapples. On the finish, still hitting tropical notes, it became like a mango lassi. YUM.
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42.2% (2nd fill)
Smelling the dram there was a bit of petrol to it at first. When it opened up a bit more, there were peppers and a touch of smoke. A fruitiness also emerged from strawberry fruit leather, a delicate lemon (Meyer), and even a bit of fennel.
Tasting the dram, I was hit with white peppery and cherry chocolate cake. Though, this dram was a bit more complex. While I found blueberries and red currants, I also picked up on a herbaceousness, as if there was thyme. A second tasting gave into wildflower honey and licorice. The finish was garam marsala.