SMWS 3.309 Bowmore Whisky Review!

Another auction win! This one is a 13-year old single cask Bowmore bottled by the SMWS, titled "Peat Smoke, Pipe Ash, and Pata Negra"... Don't worry, I had to google that one too; it means "black foot" in Spanish and refers to Iberico jamón (Spanish ham). Thanks for that, SMWS!

Ah, Bowmore. If it weren't for the independent bottlers, I'd have a totally different opinion on this distillery. I suspect most serious malt heads are in the same boat there. Bowmore seems to be quite a versatile spirit, despite being the most lightly peated of the peated Islay malts. It can work quite well in very active sherry casks, and can even hold up to virgin oak. But it's in refill and/or ex-bourbon casks that this distillery really seems to shine, particularly when left alone until the mid-teens or preferably longer. Most importantly though, it needs to be bottled at a decent ABV and without chill filtration and artificial colouring. Which is of course where the vast majority of official bottlings drop out of the race. When it comes to the Bowmore core range, distillery owners Beam Suntory really don't seem to give a shit. This is Islay's oldest surviving malt whisky distillery, yet the owners choose to only give us 40-43% ABV whiskies that are chill filtered to the harshest degree, and are loaded with artificial colouring. Let's not forget that the 15-year old expression used to be called "Darkest", despite being thoroughly dosed with E150 caramel colouring! That's quite a different story to sister distillery Laphroaig, where Beam Suntory allows three core range expressions to be bottled at 48% (Quarter Cask, Lore, and 10yo Sherry Oak) without chill filtration. Interestingly Bowmore and Laphroaig have two of Islay's three malting floors, although the in-house malt only provides 15-20% of their requirements, with the rest sourced from commercial maltings either at Port Ellen (not anymore, I'm sure) or on the mainland. Beam Suntory have also spent a substantial amount over on the east coast at Glen Garioch, where the malting floor has been recommissioned and the wash still has been converted to direct firing, along with the promise of reverting to the use of peated malt in future. And that distillery's core range has been bottled at 48% and above for quite some time now. So maybe all is not lost just yet!

There are higher ABV official bottlings of Bowmore, of course, but they're priced beyond the reach of most of the distillery's fans. Very few - if any - of those higher-end expressions are ever imported in to Australia, so a quick browse of a UK retailer tells me that you'd need to spend upwards of $600 AUD to get your hands on something like that. Those of us in Australia may get some more higher-end Bowmore OBs in mid-2025 however, when Beam Suntory switches to direct distribution as their decade-long distribution contract with Coca-Cola is due to expire. For now though, as with many distilleries, if you want a higher ABV and naturally presented example, you'll need to look to the independent bottlers. Thankfully there are always a few to choose from, although the stock does seem to be diminishing and the ages do seem to be moving upwards, with prices jumping much higher as a result. 15-18 year old cask strength Bowmores are regularly appearing for $400 or more here, which might be pushing it, but is also a sign of the times. Younger examples seem to be thin on the ground too, which has me thinking that the distillery has reduced its sales to external customers. Which is a real shame if the distillery is going to keep pumping out boring chill filtered whiskies at 40-43% ABV rather than show us what they can do with their own product at a reasonable price. The Vaults series of NAS bottlings were the most recent appearance of such a thing, at sub-$200 with ABVs in the mid-50s. Originally there were meant to be four releases in that series, but to date only two have seen the light of day - "Atlantic Sea Salt and "Peat Smoke", with the former being released in 2016 and the latter in 2019. So we'd better not hold our breaths for any future instalments in the series! 

This particular SMWS Bowmore, code 3.309 -  meaning the 309th cask they've bottled from distillery code 3, which is Bowmore - is a single cask 13-year old that was distilled in 2004. It was matured in a refill hogshead and bottled at a cask strength of 56.2% in early 2018, with an outturn of 241 bottles. They've named this cask "Peat Smoke, Pipe Ash, and Pata Negra" which as mentioned above is a fancy way of saying Spanish ham. "The Society" is never shy with their bottling names, or with their tasting notes - some are just absolute wank! At least it sounds like many of us want in a Bowmore, hopefully with some tropical fruit, citrus, and a medicinal edge. Let's give it a go!

SMWS 3.309 Bowmore 13-year old, 56.2%. Islay, Scotland.

Distilled 2004, matured in single refill hogshead, bottled 2018. Non-chill filtered, natural colour. 241 bottles.

Colour: Gold. 

Nose: Buttery, medicinal, smoky, fruit. Chilled salted butter, tiger balm & deep heat muscle gels, honeydew melon on toast (yes, I know...), white pepper, camphor (moth balls), and cigar ash. Lemon balm ointment, smoky malted barley, hint of lavender bath soap. 

Texture: Medium weight. Oily, sweet, medicinal, fruity. Slight heat but pleasant. 

Taste: Sweet tropical fruit gels (the pastille / jube lollies with the jelly / liquid centres), fresh sharp pineapple, mango skins, more salted butter & medicinal ointments. Big pinch of white pepper, some damp rock pool-like minerality. Hot tar & asphalt (i.e. new road), touch of gravy powder / beef stock around the edges. 

Finish: Medium-long length. Melted salted butter, cigar ash, more sweet fruit with mango skins, honeydew melon, and fresh pineapple. Salted preserved lemons, smoky malted barley, heavily smoked ham around the edges. 

Score: 4 out of 5. 

Notes: Delicious spirit-driven Bowmore. Hides its youth quite well, showing off the more medicinal and smoky side of Bowmore without any overt cask influence getting in the way. It's surprisingly smoky actually, heading towards that smoky bacon side of things that reminds me of some (very) smoky beers I've had in the past - which aren't peat smoked of course, but there are similarities regardless. I don't recall getting that sort of note in a Bowmore before, or the meaty smoked ham notes either, which I'd normally associate more with Caol Ila. Not a negative by any means, it's delicious! It's just a little unusual for this distillery in my experience - but that's the beauty of these single cask independent bottlings! Once again I'm reminded that the distillery owners don't seem to appreciate what they have, requiring you to spend some serious money to see what Bowmore can actually offer. Then again prices on independent bottlings of Bowmore are also very high these days!

Cheers!