PBMichiganWolverine
Bowmore The Devil's Casks 10 Year
Single Malt — Islay, Scotland
Reviewed
August 10, 2020 (edited November 28, 2020)
This is an interesting beast. It’s a 10 yr fully matured in high quality sherry cask, at a robust 50+ ABV. It first came out around $100 from what I remember, but now you can probably only find it in secondary markets. And, from my understanding, out of the 3 releases, this first one was the best.
W/o water, this taste like Lay’s BBQ chips. Pretty one dimensional, and lacking that Islay smoke + sherry that I love. But...add a few drops of water, and the flavors really dance. Now we’re talking Oaxacan Manchamantal ( a sauce made with smoky peppers, apples, pineapple and flame roasted onion, garlic, tomatoes ). Amazing how it transforms with water.
I only had a 2cl sample, but if you do see a bottle of this still around, it’s a must buy at the original $100 price. Secondary market prices ...to each his/her own.
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@PBMichiganWolverine What, a Bowmore OB scoring 4.5 stars? And it's not even NAS!
It was the the third and final edition as I understand it.
@dubz480 I w not heard of that double the devil—-but I love PX casking. Sounds really good. Likewise—-hope all is well; we’’ve passed the baton to AZ for the new hot spot notoriety—Stay safe!
I was lucky enough to get a couple bottles of the Double the Devil ($110) which added PX matured Bowmore to the Oloroso. All first fill and sooo damn tasty. Great review as always and hope all is well!
@PBMichiganWolverine I'd love to say I was joking and it's now widely available for $5/bottle... but Wine Searcher says otherwise https://www.wine-searcher.com/find/bowmore+the+devil+cask+small+batch+sherry+ten+old+single+malt+whisky+islay+scotland
@ContemplativeFox seriously !!!? $400!? I just checked my excel sheet ( yes...cc’ing @jonwilkinson7309 to get chuckles out of that ). I have apparently all three. I need to sell them...now that I had a pour of their release 1, I’m good
@PBMichiganWolverine Yikes, those secondary prices are really high. I'm seeing $400 to start in the US. I don't think I've ever seen a more expensive 10 YO scotch.
@dhsilv2 totally agree. It’s unique, and amazing at that original price point. But me, personally, I wouldn’t pay secondary prices for this.
I had I believe an NAS one which goes 250+ now. I didn't get the love and my buddy who had it, he traded his extras for better bottles. Good but not magic imo. Still, it's unique and I love that.
@ContemplativeFox I would agree. Because the converse of that logic would be “only hot climates produce good whiskey”, which we know is false
OK, so I guess you don't even need a hot climate to get a good maturation in a short time if you use a good distillate and a quality cask!