🥃 Whisky Auctioneer

[June, 2017]  I had this dram during the Feis at Bowmore disillery and later during a Feis Ile tasting at Bonn. This is very quaffable stuff and a nice dram for christmas time - more of such editions please, Bowmore!

Bowmore goodness, for just 11yo it appears amazingly mature. But then, the age statement just reflects the youngest cask.

https://whiskylovingpianist.wordpress.com/2023/05/19/loose-ends-spring-2023/ Arriving late to the party as per usual, what’s apparent is just how micro-managed and market-targeted this Hypernova release was. I searched the web for 20 minutes [at time of writing] only to find review after review posting Ardbeg’s media statement verbatim with very little extra content of their own if at all. You can trust that the Whisky Loving Pianist not follow suit. Leaving all official flannel aside, simply put, this is Ardbeg’s smokiest expression at 170ppm – Ardbeg’s Octomore if you will – with an rrp of £190. N: Like with Octomore, extra ppm’s don’t necessarily translate to an obviously smokier experience for the consumer. Indeed, here it’s the emergence of the distillate-derived creamier elements that surprise and please me the most. Opening out, we are talking of a [pina/mezcal] vegetal [vanilla] sweet < sour profile, passing notes of baked shelled crab and smoked salty pickled gherkins & jalapenos, oven-roasted lemon/smoke infused lemon juice,…. [make your own lists]. I’m picking up only American ex-bourbon cask maturation and, age-wise, youth! I’d be surprised if this was any older than six years in the main. T: Deeply peated, certainly, with a firm charcoal > ashy vegetal bitterness, this is Ardbeg with a very husky voice. Again reminiscent of mezcal on occasion, the husky distillate-chewy bitterness continues. With a fairly neutral flavour profile, the wood influence itself talks of clean vibrant resinous white oak whilst seemingly contributing a sweeter vanilla influence to the emerging barley-led creaminess. F: Not a great deal more to add, the entrenched bitter phenols and vibrant spice continuing their reign. C: I’ve no idea whether this will become a permanent in-house fixture for Ardbeg, but I guess this stunt is being used to test us/the market. I don’t mind it, but I much prefer the balance of Uigeledail or Corryvrecken and it’s worth pointing out the price of one bottle is the equivalent of 4-5 Ardbeg 10s! What’s different about Hypernova compared to the rest of Ardbeg’s range, is its voluminous quality. That said, Bruichladdich has nothing to worry about in any department.

Exactly my thing and how I like Bowmore, I'd like more of it!

A pretty sherry board, Interressant it's the age. It tastes and smells old, but it is so strong that it could also have young and a lot of oak. Great whisky, the smoke is subordinate to the sherry board.

This is a really nice drinking whisky for a great price! The alcohol is almost unnoticeable, no note dominates or slays. Plus, it's enough to keep you busy for a long time without boredom.

Very pleasant drink at the end of the day.

This is a great balance of wine/sherry and peat, intoxicating nose and palate, short finish that makes you want another sip.... dang

great, but by the mix of red wine and sherry unusual nose. In the taste thinner and too much oak tannins

After 10 minutes in the glass lots of toffee, nuts, mixed fruits inc raisins, currants and some mixed peel. Some woodc spices and damp dunnage aromas. wafts of something salty and maritime. Initially quite sweet on brown sugar caramel and raisins, some leather and then rather drying as peat smoke and wood asserts. A big improvement on previous NAS Feis bottlings

.. in terms of quality and level of enjoyment, i would file this next to Port Charlotte MRC:01, the recent Mortlach 10 yo from Decadent Drinks or the 10 yo Bunnahabhain from Brothers in Malt.. with an extra 1-2 points because of the distinct and very well expressed Bowmore DNA.

Red wine casks and sherry casks are of good quality and harmonious with each other, and a wide variety of fruits and characters from the distillery are alive and well.

Let's imagine a greengrocery store, where is has some already rotten goods, there is an aromatic bundle of lavender and violets hangs in the middle of the store, you sit in a new leather chair and eat a strange but tasty stew of sweet vegetables, different dark fruits and some light fruits, some berries, the dish is thick, oily, and sweet, but also with a dash of salt, well, and a little bit burnt. :) It is a good stuff, tasty, recognizable, and pretty fun.

Overall, sweet and oily. The Bordeaux barrels come out only at the end, otherwise dominate the sherry aromas. Tasty and tasty, but not very complex.