Mostly, when a Feis Ile bottling comes out, there are ways of identifying it apart from the release for the festival. Lagavulin generally has an age, Ardbeg had some ridiculous theme, Laphroaig has a Cairdeas edition and so on. Bowmore generally has some of these things too, or a specific cask type or so. In this case, however, they just have a cask strength bourbon cask release without an age statement.

It sounds almost like some random single cask that came out from any other bottler. So, a cask strength Bowmore from 1st fill bourbon barrels. Nothing else.

Image from WhiskyBase

Sniff:
Thick smoke with a briny edge. Apple, pineapple, tangerine and grapefruit. Salty smoke, dry oak. Rather dry, with a hint of cigarette.

Sip:
Dry with a lot of focus on the smoke and wood. Very fruity again, apple, pineapple, tangerine and grapefruit. Very fruity and very Bowmore, with buttercream icing.

Swallow:
Here the salinity is back. The smoke is more pronounced too. The fruit wanes first, and the ‘surf wood’ lasts longest.

Strangely, while this is ‘yet another young Bowmore’, it is a very good one. It is much more fruity, with even specific flavors to the smokeyness. Lots of tropical pineapple and tangerine and grapefruit. Absolutely lovely.

So, I guess this one has another classification after all: “That great fruity one from 2014”! Gorgeous stuff!

It’s not even that expensive now, clocking in at € 150 in the secondary market.

89/100

Bowmore Feis Ile 2014, 1st Fill American Oak Barrels, 56.1%