Colour: gold. Nose: excuse me but ‘wow’. The base is roughly the same as the 17’s but there’s more sherry and more dried fruits, which makes the whole richer and even more thrilling. Complex, with more bitter oranges, hints of diesel oil, more mangos and also more spices such as cloves and cinnamon (just a little). Hints of coriander as well. Classic, top notch Bowmore from the early 1970s so far, with more smoky touches than in the 60s, and more straight fruity ones than in the late 70s. Crossroads? Mouth: an immense attack at just 43% vol, almost unbelievable. Amazing richness and punch, doing ‘fireworks’ (successive salvos of various flavours). First a fruity salvo, led by oranges and tangerines, then all things leathery, then fruits again but rather mangos and such, then straight peaty smokiness and pepper, then all things coastal (including a lot of salt)… And it goes on and on and on… Finish: and on and on… The fruitiness fading away to leave more room for spices, which prevents the whole from getting maybe a tad cloying, such was the richness of this palate. Comments: stunning Bowmore from the not so old days. Wasn’t this beauty within their core range? Anyway, it was said that the 21 was better than the 25, so let’s check that within our next session

---

Show more

---

---

Show less

---