Bowmore Small Batch

Very good. Would buy again.

Bowmore Small Batch was discontinued a few years ago. Admittedly, this is the only reason I grabbed it. Otherwise, there was nothing distinguishing enough about this 40% single malt to warrant a purchase. Let's see if Bowmore made the right move when they decided to drop this from their lineup. Nose: Ashy peat and sea salt. Rubber and candlewax. Seaweed and turf. Vanilla and honey. A nice touch of mint chocolate, caramel, and fudge. Maybe some grape. Sounds great, but it's a little disjointed. Shallow as well. Not bad, but not exciting. Palate: Vanilla, honey, and caramel. A touch of earthy peat and smoke. Ash. Black pepper, grapefruit, and lemon. It's on the bitter side. A touch of iodine. There's a sun-dried tomato note that I get in a lot of youngish peated malts. Salted pretzel and hookah. Much like the nose, it has solid notes, but isn't cohesive and doesn't excel in any one area. Finish: Black pepper, cinnamon, and soft pretzel. Lime and grapefruit. Toward the end its all rubber. Short. Uneventful. Which leads me to my score. 2.25. Was Bowmore wrong to discontinue this one? No. It's an unremarkable whisky that fails to make any impression. Here in the States, there are a ton of bourbons that are cheaper and significantly better. There are Scotches I can buy today that are substantially better at the same cost. Hell, Bowmore 12 will me an extra 11 bucks and is leaps and bounds ahead of this. With all that being said, I'm not upset with my purchase. I've got here a little piece of Islay history. And hey, it's drinkable. This is spilled milk. There's no use in crying about the fact that you won't be able to drink it.