Once upon a time, the big BevMo retail chain sold AD Rattray bottlings that were exclusive to their stores. And then suddenly...they stopped. Amongst those BevMo selected ADR single casks were at least two Bowmores. As I mentioned in Monday's post, I've found AD Rattray's Bowmores to be consistently great. So I was willing to drive 45 minutes towards the Inland Empire to buy the final bottle of this particular whisky. It had been sitting on the shelf for more than three years waiting for me.
Curiously, this whisky was distilled on the same exact day as Monday's Bowmore. And I didn't realize that until just now. Let's see how it compares...
Distillery: Bowmore
Independent Bottler: A.D. Rattray
Region: Islay, Scotland
Region: Islay, Scotland
Age: 14 years (March 27, 1996 - August 4, 2010)
Maturation: ex-bourbon cask
Cask number: 2873
Bottle count: 239
Exclusive to: BevMo
Cask number: 2873
Bottle count: 239
Exclusive to: BevMo
Alcohol by Volume: 54.8%
Chillfiltered? No
Colored? No
Sample from my bottle, somewhere around the bottom third
NEAT
I can immediately tell by the nose, this is a different creature. It's beachy: seashells, seaweed and sand. It's a little grassy with a soft but bright peat note. Rubber tires, anise and wet sheep. The palate is hardcore. Super nude. Dingy, dirty, ashy and brimming with herbal bitterness. A soft fruity sweetness lingers in the background, until some citrus leaps forward in latter sips. Some smaller notes of basil leaves and anise. Its simple finish is salty and sooty. Plenty of heat. Sweet fruit in the back. Gets bitterer with time.
WITH WATER (~46%abv)
The nose has moved from the beach to the horse stall: hay, manure and apples. Soft smoke. Anise and chlorine. The palate is super bitter. But good super bitter. By that I mean rooty and herbal. A bitter liqueur minus the liqueur. Lots of peat and salt. Its shorter finish is sooty and bitter, until a nice sweetness rolls in to balance things out.
WORDS WORDS WORDS
If you've had a bunch of indie Bowmores, you've likely come across some that feel as phenolic as the Kildalton distilleries' products, despite Bowmore's technically lower peat levels. This one comes across Ardbeggian at times (as in the unadorned versions of the Ten), or similar to the better versions of Kilchoman. While this cask lacks the balance and beauty of cask 960034, it gets serious points for framing well the Bowmore spirit without making it feel too raw or underaged. This was probably from a third-fill cask or a well-abused second-fill. If you have this bottle sitting in your whisky hoard—and why is this gathering dust after 6 years?—and you're a peathead, you'll dig this. If you enjoy a minimum of oak in your malt, this is your jam. If you're looking for grace, go to church.
Availability - Happy Hunting?
Pricing - I think I paid all of $60 for this. Oh, the days...
Rating - 88
Chillfiltered? No
Colored? No
Sample from my bottle, somewhere around the bottom third
NEAT
I can immediately tell by the nose, this is a different creature. It's beachy: seashells, seaweed and sand. It's a little grassy with a soft but bright peat note. Rubber tires, anise and wet sheep. The palate is hardcore. Super nude. Dingy, dirty, ashy and brimming with herbal bitterness. A soft fruity sweetness lingers in the background, until some citrus leaps forward in latter sips. Some smaller notes of basil leaves and anise. Its simple finish is salty and sooty. Plenty of heat. Sweet fruit in the back. Gets bitterer with time.
WITH WATER (~46%abv)
The nose has moved from the beach to the horse stall: hay, manure and apples. Soft smoke. Anise and chlorine. The palate is super bitter. But good super bitter. By that I mean rooty and herbal. A bitter liqueur minus the liqueur. Lots of peat and salt. Its shorter finish is sooty and bitter, until a nice sweetness rolls in to balance things out.
WORDS WORDS WORDS
If you've had a bunch of indie Bowmores, you've likely come across some that feel as phenolic as the Kildalton distilleries' products, despite Bowmore's technically lower peat levels. This one comes across Ardbeggian at times (as in the unadorned versions of the Ten), or similar to the better versions of Kilchoman. While this cask lacks the balance and beauty of cask 960034, it gets serious points for framing well the Bowmore spirit without making it feel too raw or underaged. This was probably from a third-fill cask or a well-abused second-fill. If you have this bottle sitting in your whisky hoard—and why is this gathering dust after 6 years?—and you're a peathead, you'll dig this. If you enjoy a minimum of oak in your malt, this is your jam. If you're looking for grace, go to church.
Availability - Happy Hunting?
Pricing - I think I paid all of $60 for this. Oh, the days...
Rating - 88
I've had both AD Rattray casks of Bowmore 14yo for BevMo: this one (2873) and its sister (960029), both distilled and bottled on the same day. #960029 was my first indie Bowmore and opened a whole new world for me, in 2012. #2873 I cracked more recently, in the company of one who goes under his nom de internet MAO. I remember liking this one less - 86 points in my book, which is low given that I value few things in life above indie Bowmore. The mineral notes were there, but probably less of that mango fruity third wave that kills it with Bowmore. I also felt it was a neutral cask (not that there's anything wrong with that).
ReplyDeleteIt is missing the mango fruity element, while cask 960034 had plenty to spare. Cask 960029 was long gone by the time I hunted down this bottle of 2873. What kind of cask was that one?
DeleteSame deal with 2873, the labels are practically identical. I still have a couple bottles. It also seemed mmm, austere at first, but then it blossomed. My notes from 2012 (on 960029) are breathless:
DeleteWhat a great Islay whisky! Moderately peaty, it has the sweetness of Laphroaig, but without the briny, seaweed notes. Still, unmistakeably Islay. I would have thought it is sherried, but It's a single ex-bourbon cask. The cask strength does great favors to this whisky! Interestingly, when I first opened the bottle I couldn't taste much. But one month later -- what a revelation! Loved it! B+ to A-. Similar to the great Laphroaig 10 CS, but mellower and fruitier. Nose: Peat; stewed fruits - peach or mango compote; black pepper. Palate: campfire smoke, satisfying woody biter-sweetness. Finish: long, peppery, smoky.