Bowmore 1998 (Chester Whisky)

Bowmore 15 yo 1998 (55,2%, Chester Whisky 2012, refill bourbon hogshead, 242 btl.)

Nose: very pure, with minerals and maritime notes rather than in-your-face peat. Add some lemon candy, sweet apple and ashes rather than actual smoke. A bit of pepper and hints of graphite. Clean and very solid.

Mouth: quite powerful and there’s a nice zing to it of citrus (both zesty and sweet). The zesty notes become briney, the sweetness develops into pears and almond paste. Definitely more peat than on the nose. Grows more herbal and bitter over time.

Finish: long, clean and peaty. Briney and slightly grassy.

It’s almost superfluous to review these Bowmores from the 1990s. This one is good quality, like almost every other cask from this period. Around € 75.

Score: 87/100