Bowmore Darkest

Related whiskies : Bowmore Darkest

by **slojo** » Tue Nov 22, 2005 5:52 pm

Thinking of buying a bottle of the above. I've heard various reports - please share your experiences.

Thanks

S

by **Tyson** » Tue Nov 22, 2005 6:39 pm

Last bottle I had turned sulphery pretty quickly.

by **bamber** » Wed Nov 23, 2005 12:38 pm

Had a bottle last year. Very nice, but heard it is variable.

by **GreyArea** » Wed Nov 23, 2005 3:02 pm

Firmly but not overpoweringly sherried. Not quite my favourite Bowmore (that would be Dawn) but a good dram nonetheless.

Jim

by **slojo** » Wed Nov 23, 2005 4:31 pm

Thanks for the info. How does it compare with the Bowmore 17?

by **GreyArea** » Wed Nov 23, 2005 4:33 pm

I've not sampled the 17, so I can't help you there, sorry.

Jim

by **bamber** » Wed Nov 23, 2005 6:27 pm

I've only had 1 dram of the 17, but I would say the 17 was better, much less sherried, much less perfumed and more delicate and balanced in general.

by **mar_mcdo** » Wed Nov 23, 2005 10:26 pm

i agree with bamber. the 17 is by far my favourite bowmore, complex and balanced. lovely smokeyness and quite fruity aswell. its almost like exotic fruits. i enjoyed the darkest but i think there is much more to the 17y. on the other hand, one of my colegues prefers the darkest......just depends what you like i suppose!

by **andrewfenton** » Thu Nov 24, 2005 2:28 am

Cheers, I was actually going to post for opinions on the Bowmore 17, since it's £32 in RMW atm - and I get 10% discount on top

by **Admiral** » Thu Nov 24, 2005 3:22 am

If you go for a bottle of Darkest, make sure that it's either very old (i.e. bottled at least six years ago), or make sure that it's very new (i.e. bottled in the latest run!)

The 17yo is a very different dram - not nearly as sweet or sherried, but a more austere peated dram.

I've done a head-to-head a few times....oddly enough, sometimes the 12 and 17 year olds don't seem all that different on the palate.

CHeers,
Admiral

by **STella** » Fri Nov 25, 2005 10:00 pm

Darkest is, I think a young bottling so still a bit of peat under the sherry. Smooth or polished is a better word.

Worth having in the house.

STella

by **The Dazzler** » Fri Nov 25, 2005 11:06 pm

Definately try out the Darkest. I think sherry works well with heavily peated malts, Lagavulin DE and a Laphroaig 15yo (signatory) from a couple of years back are excellent examples. The Darkest does have its critics but also has its fans and the whisky itself is generaly good quality. Having said this I had a wee dram of the Bowmore 17yo last night and still think it edges out the Darkest slightly.

Slainte

Related whiskies : Bowmore Darkest