Super fruit lovly complex a dream

Tasting note by Serge Valentin

   Bowmore 38 yo 1957 (40.1%, OB, 861 bottles) Colour: pure gold. Nose: much more complex. There sure is lots of citrus, passion fruit etc., but there’s also lots of beeswax, sea air, flowers and plants, accompanied by all their sub-aromas. Propolis, tar, shoe polish, apricot jam, ripe mirabelle, pineapple liqueur, dried figs. Then it goes back to some ‘resinous’ aromas, like old turpentine… This is just endless. What a beauty! Wait, now I have a walk in the forest under the rain. Fern, mushrooms, humus… It would have been simpler – and quicker - to write down all the aromas you can’t find in this whisky. Let’s move on...

Mouth: rather bold attack, with quite some tannins right at the start, but they are soon to get replaced by some wax, eucalyptus, old books… A little dusty and, to be honest, tired. There is almost no point in rating the palate, this malt stands just by its nose. And what a nose! 93 points.

It was on a mid-winter’s day, 14 January 1957, when this bottle of Bowmore began its special journey to maturation. New distilled spirit was poured into oak casks, much the same as any other day at Bowmore Distillery. However, the spirit within casks numbered 216-220 was to become special.Bowmore’s Distillery Manager nurtured and monitored this spirit through the years, as with all casks of Bowmore, waiting for the day when he knew the whisky was at its prime. Over time, the spirit rested quietly in the No 1 Vaults of Bowmore Distillery, breathing in the fresh sea air and developing its unique Bowmore personality.Ten, twenty, thirty years passed by and still the spirit in those five casks wished to slumber. Its brothers had long since matured. The Distillery Manager knew that something unique was developing in the casks and kept a careful vigil over them. However, in its thirty eighth year, the spirit was found sitting just above the critical 40% alcoholic volume strength for Scotch Whisky and so he moved with haste to have the whisky bottled. If he had waited a moment longer, the whisky would have become extinct, and a piece of history wiped out forever.The precious spirit was soon bottled and placed in this handmade oak presentation case, carefully crafted by the Master Cabinet Makers of Charles Kirkby & Sons, Sheffield, England.This unique autumnal coloured Bowmore should be given time in the glass to open up, time for the Bowmore character to release itself. To preserve every last drop of character in this fine whisky, we decided not to chill filter it. Should water be added, it may alter in appearance, acquiring a natural soft haze.As one of only 861 bottles ever produced, this bottle of Bowmore 1957, aged Thirty Eight Years, is a true gem in the Bowmore family.

http://www.bowmore.co.uk/Bowmore.aspx