The Bowmore line-up has always struck me as . . . fine. Okay. Not special, but not atrocious. Decently priced for what you get, though woefully lacking any interest in craft presentation (always low ABV, always filtered, always artificially coloured right to hell). The Bowmore 12 is representative of that feeling. It's fine, but something about it always struck me as somehow synthetic, as though someone was trying to recreate "Islay" in a lab. Flavours of smoke, peat, brine (though it's kind of a generic smokiness, as opposed to the specifically "campfire smoke" or "smoked meat" smoke I get from other Islay distilleries). Big lemon and lemon-zest. Honey, chocolate-y. Something faintly chemical or plastic-y? Tastes of smoke, peat, spice, seawater, tobacco, with a brief finish. It's not bad, and the price is right, but I'll never actively seek it out.