Yessss, I’m back from a very nice holiday in Scotland! It was really great and I felt very privileged that I had the opportunity to travel through Scotland for a month. But after a fairly long period of absence here it is time to get going again, right? So let me start today with this Bowmore 15 that was bottled for Feis Ile 2019.

Of course, I brought this bottle home from Scotland, although it wasn’t really the intention to go to Islay, let alone Feis Ile. But at the last minute, we decided to travel to Islay anyway (thanks to my friends for this fantastic idea). This to my great joy, since I always wanted to go there. It was only 1 day, which meant that we had to set the alarm at 5 am to catch the 7 am ferry, but this was my chance to explore the island a bit. You never know when such an opportunity will occur again, so why not get the most out of your vacation if you still have a day left. 🙂

The weather was terrible that day, but I had the time of my life. No queuing for festival bottlings for me like most, but instead 2 nice tours at both Laphroaig and Ardbeg. And in between a short pit stop at Lagavulin, because it was Lagavulin Day after all.

Anyway, I picked up this Bowmore on the way back to the ferry. Unfortunately, I didn’t have time to do a tour there, but hey, you can’t do everything in 1 day, right? So that’s for next time and at least I have something to look forward to now. 😉

This Bowmore has matured in 1st fill bourbon cask and is bottled at 52.7%. There were 3000 bottles available.

Bowmore 15 tasting notes:

Nose: A nice lingering smoke. It’s briny, and there is a scent of a sea breeze. if that makes sense. Shells and minerals. Lemon peels. And a hint of vanilla custard. Fruits, which reminds me of unripe pears, but later I also have green bananas. There’s a slight medicinal note. And a little bit of mint in the background. With water: Softer and fruitier. A hint of rope and lychees?

Taste: Some smoke here as well, but quite elegant. Vanilla custard again. And a sour note from lemons. A hint of green bananas. Somewhat salty or briny maybe and minerals. Later also grapefruit. Water: More of the vanilla custard and less smoke.

Finish: The finish is mid-long and the peat is more dominant now. The fruits are more to the background.

An absolute stunning Bowmore! A crowd pleaser, as I think you don’t necessarily have to be an Islay enthusiast to like this. Just delicious. And absolutely worth its money. The release price, that is.