Is Bowmore Scotch a great scotch?!
Is Bowmore Scotch a great scotch?
Answers:
As they said below, it's a matter of personal taste/choice. But Bowmore is a single malt Scotch, therefore it is much better than blended ones, and definitely superior to all the other stuff they produce elsewhere and dare to call whisky/whiskey.
It's decent, Nothing worth going out of the way for.
It is an Islay scotch, which means that it will have the taste profiles of smokey and peaty. For the price, it isn't a bad scotch, but you have to like those tastes to enjoy it.
Ok, from a single malt scotch drinker I can tell you that there are MANY that are WONDERFUL but as to one being greater than another is a matter of taste. I, for one, do not like Laphroaig at all! or for that matter Talisker either!! and I have friends that prefer them over any others, so it is a matter of taste. :) enjoy your scotch whatever it may be and take a drink of that for me and smile because on the other side of the world in the USA is a person that loves single malt scotch, just not every one.
I just finished a bottle of the 12 year old. Its okay....not one of the best I've had. Not the worst either. For the price(35US), the Glenlivet would have been better. It is an Islay as others have noted. I didnt really taste the typical Islay taste though.
Compared to most Scotch, yes. Most is blended (grain) whisky. The better stuff is malt - preferably single (not blended) malt - and Bowmore falls into that category, so it's a lot better than most. As a single malt, I would say it's decent - not my favourite, but I wouldn't refuse a dram.
Bowmore is the oldest distillery on Islay. The name doesn't come without an excellent reputation to back it up. It is a medium peated malt and almost everyone's introduction to Islay.
There are many legendary single malts from the Bowmore Distillery, not the least of which is "Bowmore Black," a heavily sherried bottling from the 1968 vintage. Those bottles go for over $5,000 on most auction sites. Especially before single malts became popular, Bowmore was the definition of Islay.
Around the turn of the millenium, many whisky connoisseurs used the internet to spread rumors of bad batches of Bowmore. They collectively guessed that around the early eighties, Bowmore had blended some bad casks of whisky that contained an odor of "French Whore's Perfume," commonly abbreviated FWP. Although it supposedly only existed in a few rare batches, Bowmore's reputation suffered at the hands of the rumor, with people mistaking the trademark violet scents for FWP.
Regardless of FWP rumors, Bowmore's quality had been waning for quite a while. They have repackaged twice in the last five years. Lo and behold, the most recent bottling of the twelve year old got a rave review from one of the most disillusioned Bowmore fans on the net recently, heralding it as a step in the direction of "old Bowmore."
The truth is that most single malts have been waning in quality since the demand has increased so much, but it looks like Bowmore is making a turn for the better recently. Pick up the newest bottling of the twelve year old and see what it's like.