Right. A French name on a Scottish whisky with a Guyanese rum finish, with that name coming from a sport that is said to originate from Egypt. Is SMWS trying to be more inclusive, because if that’s the case they’re succeeding. Although, with the naming conventions at the Scotch Malt Whisky Society, I doubt people put much stock in their names.

I tried this Bowmore a while ago with my buddy JPH, as we try to keep some ‘quarterly advents’ going after trying some advent calendars together and really liking it. This was part of a night of Bowmores, all from SMWS and around the same age. The others will follow at another time.

Sniff:
Lemon drizzle cake and a light smokiness. More or less exactly what you expect from a Bowmore of this kind. The rum cask adds a funkiness that’s not normally there. Cloying overripe fruit sweetness, but not out of balance. Mango, papaya, toasted oak.

Sip:
The palate arrives rather gently for a 56% first dram of the evening, but there’s some black pepper that gives a bit of bite after that. The sweetness keeps the heat in check, and the smokiness is pushed really far back for a Bowmore. Again ripe tropical fruits with some oak. Mango, papaya, candied lemon. A hint of baking spices in cinnamon and clove.

Swallow:
The finish veers back to more traditional Bowmore, albeit a bit on the sweeter side of things. More ripe tropical fruit, and some lemon. A hint of shammy leather, papaya, mango, oak and peat smoke. Not a very long finish.

If it was a bit less sweet, it would have scored higher. The rum makes itself really known and it is slightly less Bowmore-y because of it. Having said that, ‘scoring higher’ sounds negative, but it still is a very good whisky at a price level that is on the low side for Bowmore of this age, at the time of writing. A very fine dram indeed!

88/100

Available in the secondary market for € 250