Vintner. Every time I hear “vintner’ I think of my friend, who we”ll call ‘S”. I was doing my MBA while she was a senior at same university. Her father was a retired Goldman Sachs exec who owned a winery in Napa. You see, S came from a very conservative upper crust family. When you are worth in the billions, you are expected to behave in a certain way. And S was far from that ideal behavior. She was living with a guy who surely wouldn’t fall into the category of “status appropriate” for her parents. He was high most of the times. But...it turned out that I fell into that “marriage appropriate” category. I had the educational pedigree and child-of-immigrant-parents work ethic apparently that her dad approved of, So...whenever her parents came to visit, I was presented as the boyfriend. This meant holidays at their ranch in Wyoming, and Christmas weeks at their ski house in Utah. Every one of these visits always had her father’s top shelf wine bottles from his winery. One thing I distinctly remember from his wines was the taste of blackberry. All his top shelf private family-only bottles had a taste of blackberry. And I distinctly remember that, back then, I kept thinking “ what’s the big deal? I can get blackberries for $2/carton at the local Kroger’s “. Yes. Such is the life of a fake boyfriend. Skiing in Utah, horseback riding in Wyoming, and the much needed departure from campus bar Bud Lights to private bottles of Napa Pinot Noir wines that tasted like blackberries. And that takes me to this pour. @pkingmartin graciously sent over a sample. This is one of the best Bowmores I’ve had. Mocha, blackberries, cherry, and surprisingly...a hefty dose of peat, which I would think would’ve reduced at this age. I mean, the blackberry takes center stage, but the peat presence is there. But it’s the blackberry that has the limelight here. And we’re not talking $2/carton blackberries, but the Whole Foods organic ones that are $7/carton. So...wherever “S” is nowadays, I’m envious of her husband...he’s probably sitting somewhere in a Wyoming ranch or Utah ski chalet having wine that taste like this amazing bottle of Bowmore Vintner. Damn. If only I played my cards right... Thanks @pkingmartin for this pour!