Last year’s was a top-notch, defiantly sherried example of Bowmore. This year’s batch thrusts equally boldly, but starts in a more Japanese-accented fashion: think soy, miso paste, and salmon teriyaki. Light leather, with hickory campfire smoke coming through strongly. The big, oily, tarry palate is like a spent barbecue with a hint of skidding car tires on Bowmore High Street. So, still a belter, but why so limited? Beam Suntory, please sort it out! (6,000 bottles) £60

Reviewed by: Dave Broom (Winter 2014)

Matured in a port pipe. The third in a trilogy (the other two being bourbon and sherry cask-aged). I like this one better than the sherry cask 1990 vintage, but not quite as much as the bourbon cask bottling which was in our Top Ten whiskies two years ago. Lovely amber ruby color. The port flavors are obvious, but not sappy or dominating. They’re clean, and contribute a layered sweetness and ripe red berry fruit notes to the traditional, moderately peated Bowmore smoke and peat. Lingering smoke and chocolate on the finish.

Reviewed by: John Hansell (Spring 2008)

Medium-bodied and nicely textured. Good balance of flavors -- and well-integrated, too -- with lovely sweet notes (cereal grain, cookie dough, caramel, and vanilla cream), young heathery peat, tar, fishnets, and brine that is complementary, but not aggressive, with a suggestion of lavender and tangerine. Balanced finish. (332 bottles produced.)

Reviewed by: John Hansell (Spring 2007)

Tempest to the world, Dorus Mor in the U.S., this has an intensely salty start that’s like being slapped by a wave on Bowmore’s harbor wall. That marine note continues: samphire, clams with a squeeze of lemon. Water brings out wet clay. The palate is equally briny, but with a sprig of lavender, then soft fruits wreathed in peat smoke. It’s tense and coiled, with real energy when neat, but it’s best like that, so deal with the heat.

Reviewed by: Dave Broom (Fall 2013)

The ruby color gives the port maturation away, as does the nose: all plum crumble, stewed rhubarb, and caramelized orchard fruits. It’s more autumnal than jammy with hints of dusty angelica and only vestigial smoke. The palate is hot, with those hedgerow fruits and a light touch of perfumed lavender before a flock of tarry smoke appears on the finish. All well-integrated and at its best with a little water.

Reviewed by: Dave Broom (Winter 2013)

This was a true double maturation: a dozen years in first-fill bourbon and then 13 years in claret. In its 20s, Bowmore tends to shed its smoke and allows the soft fruits (here, persimmon, nectarine) which have always been there to show themselves. There’s a light oiliness on the tongue. The casks have added vanilla, red fruits, and spice, but the overall impression is of harmony and integration. Lovely. (200 bottles) £350

Reviewed by: Dave Broom (Fall 2016)

This is quite a saline Bowmore, but there is sufficient sliced apple, cut flowers, and fragrant smoke to give some degree of complexity to the nose. With water you get crisp oak, roasted barley, a hint of nectarine, bison grass, and wet reeds. Starting lean in the mouth, it darkens slightly into brambles and a dusty smokiness before picking up a citric tang on the finish. Slightly muted, but well balanced. £60/500 ml

Reviewed by: Dave Broom (Spring 2014)

The latest addition to Bowmore’s core range is presented at the unconventional age of 9 years. Matured predominantly in oloroso sherry casks, with some bourbon cask-aged spirit thrown into the mix. The result is a whisky featuring drinking chocolate, black pepper, and soft peat on the nose. Sherry and sweet peat notes merge nicely on the palate, with dates, plums, and light caramel. Smoky brine in the medium-length finish. £30

Reviewed by: Gavin Smith (Winter 2016)

The mid-priced Fèis Ìle release took Bowmore off into darker than usual territory. The key here was how the cask (PX is, after all, as sweet a sherry as you can find) had been so well controlled. Rather than being a thick, sweet mess, a balance was struck between the two elements: the cask added density and raisined fruit, while the distillery gave aromatic smoke and orange, and both combine to layer on molasses, leather, and dark chocolate. A success. £100

Reviewed by: Dave Broom (Fall 2016)

Every once in a while you get whisky where the palate is completely different than the nose. This is one of those whiskies. Aged in bourbon casks and 37 years old, its aroma expresses tropical fruits (similar to other older Bowmores), with papaya, lemon, mango, strawberry, coconut, and banana. This is balanced by vanilla, crème brûlée, honey, and just a wisp of smoke. Bowmore’s Islay roots are more expressive on the palate, which starts off sweet and slightly oily, quickly evolving to tropical fruit, damp oak, and then leafy smoke through to the finish. The sweetness emerges again towards the finish, with subtle brine and seaweed. (120 bottles for the U.S.)

Reviewed by: John Hansell (Winter 2006)

Amber color. Complex, exotic aromas of vanilla fudge, coconut, white chocolate, plum, cherry, citrus, and a hint of smoke and bourbon. Light to medium in body and delicate. On the palate, there’s a brief encounter of caramel and fruits mentioned above. After that, most of the flavors come from the wood-dry vanilla, mint, layered spicy oak notes, with some smoke emerging from time to time. Dry, oaky finish. I am in love with the aroma-it’s so exotic and intriguing. I would pay just to smell this whisky. But the flavors on the palate are less exotic and more influenced by the wood.

Reviewed by: John Hansell (Summer 2003)

Aged in a sherry cask, and the lush fruity notes add dimension and richness without masking the whisky’s other flavors. Its flavors are reminiscent of crumbled peat thrown over a campfire; damp earth, anise, and floral notes throughout, dovetailing with the lush sherried fruit. Smoky, briny finish. A well-rounded dram.

Reviewed by: John Hansell (Spring 2005)

This vatting of three virgin oak casks and one oloroso butt was so keenly priced that it sold out in seconds, all 1,500 bottles of it. It shows Bowmore, that ever-changing, elusive Islay dram in perfumed, scented mode. I picked up vetiver (an integral part of classic male cologne), but also peach, some flamed peels, and plenty of smoke. The palate dips into the sea for a second, then again becomes scented, alongside gentle chocolate. Amazing price too. £55

Reviewed by: Dave Broom (Fall 2016)

Sadly, the final chapter in a series which deservedly acquired cult status because of the way it showed how well Bowmore behaved in close proximity to sherry casks. This was aged in oloroso and PX and has a thick, dark nose, all dried black fruits and saddlebags. The smoke is sotto voce. The savory nature continues on the palate. It needs water to bring out fresh fruits, and while there’s a bitterness on the end, that’s a minor cavil. £190

Reviewed by: Dave Broom (Spring 2016)

There have been some legendary Hart Brothers bottlings of Bowmore (the 1966 bottled in ’74 is a classic) so this has a lot to live up to. The nose is creamy and discreet, but Bowmore is less about charging out wreathed in smoke and more a dram where peat is part of the totality. Here you get seashells and low-tide aromas, along with green banana. The palate is gently smoked with light barley, cool melon. An afternoon dram. £50

Reviewed by: Dave Broom (Fall 2015)

Aged in a used bourbon barrel. Rather soft for Bowmore — especially for its age — with a gentle foundation of honey, vanilla, and malt. Interwoven notes of summer fruit, coconut, lime, and gentle peat, with teasing brine and smoke on the finish. A straightforward, unpretentious, pleasant Bowmore.

Reviewed by: John Hansell (Summer 2011)

The first thing to note is the strength. It’s surprisingly not that hot initially, rather there are hints of soft orchard fruits, gentle smoke, and seashells. With water, the fruits show up—mango and peach—but the alcohol is still masking things. Water goes in immediately to produce a palate that is cool, slightly sweet, with seashore notes, wet stones, and those fruits, but there’s still a real tension to the whole experience. For the brave. £110

Reviewed by: Dave Broom (Spring 2015)

Aged for six years in bourbon casks, then aged an additional ten years in Bordeaux wine casks. Classic Bowmore peat smoke and red berried fruit (raspberry, strawberry) are the main components of this whisky, with additional notes of plum, grape skin tannins, currant, caramel, and marzipan. Good grip from the Limousin oak (wine casks). Some brine and damp cellar notes emerged occasionally, with the smoke lingering long on the finish.

Reviewed by: John Hansell (Winter 2008)