Bowmore is one of the quieter Islay distilleries, and it's frequently overlooked in favour of its more outspoken neighbours. I haven't exactly been shy in mentioning that it tends to be my least-favourite Islay distillery, and its position on my ranking doesn't change very often. The vast majority of their core range is bottled at 40% or 43%, and is chill filtered and artificially coloured, and frankly is also pretty boring. The 15-year old, previously named 'Darkest', is still my pick of these regular bottlings, but even it doesn't quite belong on the same level as most of the similarly-priced efforts from the other Islay distilleries. On paper the distillery has plenty of promise, with its floor maltings, medium peating level (20-25 ppm) and regular use of wine and sherry casks (more details here). But in reality the majority of Bowmore's official offerings are often hobbled by the aforementioned low bottling strength, chill filtration and artificial colouring, and their overall approach & philosophy seems very different to that of their sister distillery on the southern shore of the island.
But all of that doesn't apply to every single bottling that Bowmore release. There are a few that escape intact, and a few that are bottled at a decent strength. These days they're mostly the hand-filled distillery exclusive and Feis Ile (Islay festival) bottlings though, which are basically unobtainable unless you're extremely lucky when you visit Islay. A few years back there were more options though, particularly with the Devil's Cask series and the Tempest series, which were released in reasonably-sized batches. The three 'Devil's Cask' bottlings were cask strength first-fill sherry cask whiskies, and the six 'Tempest' bottlings (re-named to 'Dorus Mor' in the U.S.) were cask strength 10-year old first-fill bourbon cask whiskies. Both of these expressions were dependably tasty, and almost all were reasonably priced at the time of release - the third and final "Devil's" bottling was far more expensive that the previous two, and it had lost the age statement and added some PX sherry casks into the mix, making it the exception to that statement. The sixth and final batch of the Tempest series and that last Devil's Cask release were bottled back in 2015, which left a cask strength-sized hole in Bowmore's official line-up. And predictably both of those expressions have since drastically increased in value on the secondary market.
Enter the supposedly four-part 'Vault Edition' series, which was promoted as an annual release at the time, although to date only one bottling has seen the light of day. It was named 'Atlantic Sea Salt', and was bottled in 2016. Without an age statement and with none of the transparency that the Tempest releases had regarding their maturation regimen or their presentation, and a lower bottling strength to boot, this one seems to be at a disadvantage in comparison. It's also significantly more expensive, at around $210 AUD here in Australia, compared to the absolute bargain price of around $110 for the bottling that it ostensibly replaced. But the Tempest series doesn't seem to be coming back any time soon, unfortunately, so let's leave the past behind for now. Vault Edition Atlantic Sea Salt was matured in "hand selected" ex-bourbon casks (no mention of whether they were first- or re-fill), and was bottled at 51.5% ABV. There's no mention of whether that's cask strength or not, so I'd have to assume it isn't, but that's still a very decent strength and is nothing to sneeze at. The name "Vault Edition" refers to Bowmore's famous No. 1 Vaults dunnage warehouse, which sits on the shore of Loch Indaal. A small area of that warehouse does sit slightly below sea level, and Atlantic Sea Salt refers to the sea water that washes over said area and purportedly influences the maturing casks within. Whether or not this bottling was actually matured in said warehouse, where space is in high demand and is generally (and understandably) reserved for the high-end whiskies, or is just named that way, I couldn't say. But we shouldn't judge a whisky by its cover, so let's take a closer look!
Matured in ex-bourbon casks. Presumed natural colour & non-chill filtered, but not stated anywhere.
Colour: Gold.
Nose: A little shy (after breathing), but what is on show is very enjoyable! This may sound a little odd, but it's salt crust-baked tropical fruit. There's a dry and "ozone-y" minerality to it, plus some dried mango, nectarine and a little lemon, and a very distant bonfire smoke. With extra time there's a little dusty golden oak and a nice damp (steeped & spread) husky malt, or even draff (the leftover solids after the wort has been drained).
Texture: Medium weight, quite dry and definitely salty but somehow also juicy. A slight peppery heat, but very slight.
Taste: Overtly salty. It certainly does what it says on the tin (box). Astringent and lightly drying, but with a lovely juicy tropical fruit behind that. There's more mango and nectarine, a little lemon again, but also a couple of pomegranate seeds. A little dry, dirty peat smoke as well.
Finish: Medium length. The saltiness continues, and a little white pepper peeks through, but that tropical fruit is still there as well, and there's a slight touch of sour grapefruit juice added now. Still astringent and sour overall, but it works, and some salted licorice and a light cocoa powder come through as it fades.
Score: 3.5 out of 5. But with pricing taken into account it'd be a 3 out of 5.
Notes: Well, colour me impressed. In all honesty, I didn't expect to enjoy this whisky as much as I did. It's an impressive dram, and it's strangely disarming and quite reassuring. Reassuring, that is, to see that contemporary Bowmore is still capable of releasing a whisky like this to the masses. Their distillery exclusives have always been of a high standard, although not exactly a bargain buy and certainly not easily obtainable, and this release is probably as close as you can get to that standard of Bowmore without travelling to the Queen of the Hebrides. If you were compare any of the distillery's standard core offerings to most of the other Islay distilleries' equivalents, it probably wouldn't be pretty. But if you were to throw this Vault Edition, or any other higher strength, probably non-chill filtered and naturally coloured - just print it on the damn packaging people! - expression of Bowmore into the ring instead, it'd be a far fairer fight. I do suspect that there were some refill casks thrown into the mix for this expression, which is fine of course, it's just a different experience to its predecessor that it seems to be styled after.
Speaking of whiskies that aren't exactly bargain buys though, at over double the price of the final bottling of the Tempest series, for what is a more dilute (although still tasty) experience, this whisky isn't one either. Yes, you're right, the Tempest series died over three years ago, so maybe that's not a fair comparison. What is probably a fairer comparison is that this Vault Edition is also around 10% more expensive than the distillery's 18-year old core bottling, which is already notably more expensive than the majority of its readily-available competition. So I'd unfortunately have to say this Bowmore is a little overpriced. But for a general release with a more natural presentation and a higher strength, it's a tasty expression that deserves its spot next to the other Islays on the shelves. I wonder if we're going to see the other three editions in the series? Let's hope so.
Cheers!
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