Bowmore Blair Castle International Horse Trials 2001

Prepare yourself for an incredible true story. Back in 2014, Mr. Richard Gooding, former owner of Pepsi, passed away. When his heirs entered his mansion, they discovered something out of this world: the most incredible whisky collection ever. Over 3900 bottles, it was the biggest collection of Macallan, Bowmore and many other brands ever. Appraisers all over the world came to value this "museum" of whisky. He had two of the 1926 Macallans, 8 Black Bowmores, 10 bottles of 40yo Laphroaigs, and the list goes on and on. In 2019 and 2020 the whole collection went to auction, breaking the world record for a bottle; the Macallan 1926 Adami was sold for 1.5 million dollars. You might be wandering why i am telling you all this. Well... i won 10 bottles at the "Perfect Collection" Auction. I will tell you my own story of the auction in later reviews (to keep you hooked, lol). One of the ten bottles, was this Bowmore Blair Castle International Horse Trials 2001. A super collectable item, specially for Bowmore lovers, this is one nearly impossible bottle to obtain. It was never sold to the public, it was given for free to the contestants to the Horse Trials at Scotland's Blair Castle. This was bottled by Morrison Bowmore Distillers, the former owners of the distillery. You might find it on the internet, for a hefty price of $2300. (I did not paid that). Bottled at 40%abv, golden color. On the nose, incredibly aromatic. Maize, aromatic peat and floral notes were the first to appear. Peaches, burnt hay and medicinal notes rise after a couple of minutes. Seafood. After a first sip, the aroma changed into a tropical profile. Coconut and pineapple. On the palate, it was flavorful and interesting. Tropical fruits, peaches and pineapple. Very elegant, the second sip was super salty, but not off-putting. Aftertaste was the best part. Salt, tobacco and pepper. Vanilla syrup and coconut. The saltiness lasts for hours! Overall, this was an absolutely amazing dram. Not only the story here was great, but the actual whisky, without been too complex, was outstanding. I had to investigate about the Blair Castle history and it was lovely, they even have the only private army in Europe. All things aside, been objective here, my score was 93 over 100. It scored 23 points in every criteria except for the finish that was so rewarding that i gave it 24 points. On my next review i'll tell the story of how i got to win the 10 bottles, hope you enjoy reading it. Sláinte mhath!!!!