Generally, I am 100% unaware of what Gall & Gall, the largest chain of bottle shops in The Netherlands is doing. They tend to be insanely expensive with their whisky unless they’re discounting. Also, the offers on their website generally don’t translate to what they actually have available in shops.

So, when they had a single cask Bowmore available from a rather renowned bottler I was quite surprised. Luckily, someone in the MaltFascination bottle-share club was paying more attention, and they managed to snag one. Surprisingly, a 9 year old cask strength Bowmore at € 85 is quite acceptable, so the surprises kept piling up.

Sniff:
This seems to be doing what Bowmore does best. Crisp lemon, a whiff of vanilla. Ashy smoke and shammy leather. Still quite youthful, but not spirity.

Sip:
The palate is rather hot, more so that I’d expect for the 57.7%. Heaps of white pepper, some oak and a bit of lemon. No vanilla sweetness here, but there is of course some smokiness. It’s rather dry, but I think that’s mostly the heat.

Swallow:
The finish shows a bit more lemon, olive oil, salty smoke. The slight leathery note from the nose is back too. Quite a long and intense finish.

Slightly one dimensional, but that dimension happens to be very tasty. I guess this might have benefited from a few more years in oak. Then again, if you have any experience with younger Bowmore from bourbon casks, this one will definitely not disappoint! A solid pick from Douglas Laing / Gall & Gall and it’s still available too. At least, according to the website.

87/100