review: Bowmore 16yo 1993/2010 Perfect Dram 59.9%, bourbon hogshead, 209 bottles

let's get this started

according to whiskysamples, "Bowmore Distillery was running very slowly in 1993, with long fermentation times and slow distillation resulting in a distinctive fruitier spirit." So let's see.

(You'd think that if it worked, and if it's under their control, they'd keep doing that ... ex-bourbon Bowmore becomes almost perfect when there's something good on top of the oily smoke and bitter grapefruit ... but I guess running slowly means less spirit ...)

Nose is open, even at this strength, not going to bother with water. Fruitiness yes, but it's a little strange: somewhere between rosehips and nettles. Ok, so nettles aren't fruit, but it's a weirdly dry citric fruitiness that almost veers off into grassiness. I get smoked grapefruit peels -- as if such a thing existed. The peat is almost farmy -- hay that's gone bad -- but ends up being an ashy smoke.

Palate: wow, I should have added water. I took a step back for this one: a mouthful of peat. Concentrated, sun-dried, oven-roasted peat. (I must be getting soft in my old age.) There's a fair amount of citrus and floral sweetness, but the peat kind of kicks its ass.

Finish: my mouth is still smoking. Ashes (campfire, cigarette, whatever), with some citrus and a little bit of faint vanilla softens it up. If you wait a while, the ashiness settles down into something more earthy, and dried plums (ume) and sour cherries come into the picture. Very, very long mouth-coating finish in any case.

I found this strangely forbidding and completely, completely engaging. Not the most enjoyable beverage in the world, but still very good.

score: 87

edit/update: empty glass: rich, creamy, earthy, oily peat. I think there were a lot of flavors that were concealed by the intensity -- I wish I had more than a sample to taste of this one. Also, I think I'm sweating peat smoke now.