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Time For A Wee Nip Of The Smoky One!
Bowmore Celebrates its 50th
©
Michael Vaughan 2001
National Post Weekly Wine & Spirits
Columnist
Saturday,
October 13, 2001
The
FBTI “Uncut” Edition
This
is the time of year when the cool autumn air nips at you shoulder. While
thoughts may leap to those full-bodied fleshy reds, this week I discovered
that a wee nip of the smoky one is all one needs to make the world go
round.
Perhaps
it’s the recent terrorist tension, which floods the air that demanded
big artillery. Whatever, it was one of those moments when a glass of wine
just wasn’t going to cut it. Of course, the company had something to do
with it. I was lunching with Brian
Morrison of Morrison Bowmore distillery.
It
was his father Stanley P. a
whisky trader who in 1963 managed to acquire Bowmore, one of Scotland’s
oldest distilleries dating back to 1779. It’s located in the tiny
village of Bowmore (population 300) on the rugged, west coast island known
as Islay.
It
takes over two hours to reach the mainland by one of the small coastal
steamers, which are affectionately called “puffers”. This isolation
combined with fresh water, hearty local barley and an abundance of peat
for fuel contributed to a very active and very illicit whisky trade, which
date back to the sixteenth century.
The distillery is an old, large, white, fortress-like structure that hugs the sea. In fact, some of its warehouses (referred to as “vaults”) are actually built below sea level. Bowmore donated one of them to the village, which promptly converted it into a swimming pool. Now that might not sound too exciting until one discovers that the distillery’s waste heat was then used to warm the pool’s waters. Ingenious!
Today
seven distilleries remain on Islay. Connoisseurs consider these
distinctive Islay single malts to be the kings of Scotch. Smoke and peat
are discriptives that leap to mind. Of course, there’s lots of debate as
to which is best. Styles vary widely from one producer to another – from
lightly peaty to those brimming with extremely smoky, peaty, kelpy,
medicinal flavours.
Bowmore’s unique taste lays somewhere between these two extremes. Certainly the salty, kelpy, seawater, which constantly mists the air, contributes to its character. Tradition is a key at Bowmore – it’s one of only a few remaining distilleries that still malts its own barley. The smoky flavours result from drying barley over a peat fire for 15 to 18 hours. Certainly the water, distilling temperature and even the shape and size of the still will influence the flavour. This combined with the length of aging and type of barrel used will have a big impact on smoothness and flavour.
Getting
back to our late luncheon tasting, we were doing a bit of a Scotch
vertical. The first amber ambrosia presented, however, was not from the
Islay region. Auchentoshan 10 Years Old
recently arrived on the LCBO General List at $43.55. Unfortunately,
it doesn’t appear in the LCBO’s
Autumn 20001 Price Book, which is based on July 30th
prices. The milder, slightly sweeter, orange marmalade flavour of this
triple distilled Lowland malt is a definite hit as an aperitif.
It’s
one of only a few whiskies to be triple distilled which makes is quite
rounded and accessible. It like the others were served ever so slightly
chilled, in a large wine glass “neat” (without ice or water), exactly
the way I like it.
Bowmore
acquired Auchentoshan’s stock back in 1969 and then purchased the
distillery in 1984. Brian Morrison says “it made sense to add this
alternative style to the portfolio.” Bowmore also owns Glen
Garioch an Eastern Highlands distillery dating back to 1797.
While it was not tasted, a 15 Year Old was listed in Vintages last January
at $59.95 (my January 2001 Vintage Assessments tasting note appears
below).
446310
‘GLEN
GARIOCH’ 15 YEAR OLD
$59.95
Highland Single Malt ~ Slightly Smoky **
(Glen Garioch Dist.) (224 Cases of 6) (43%)
[Sch Age]
Medium amber gold colour. Intense,
slightly medicinal, honeyed, gently smoky, malty nose with some leather
and corn syrup notes. On the
palate it’s solid, very dry, intense and somewhat peppery with still
youthful, smoky corn syrup flavours.
Shows good length.
Our
next round was the considerably more pungent and flavourful Bowmore 12 Year Old ($47.95 on the General
List). I swirled the glass and the air filled with gentle smoke and peat.
It’s considerably drier with notes of honey, heather and pepper.
Beside
it sat the Bowmore
Mariner 15 Year Old ($59.95 on
the General List). Light amber colour, it was softer and smoother on the
palate. The nose had a sweetish floral aspect with hints of marmalade and
definite ginger notes. Rounder, softer and somewhat smoother.
But
better? Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. And while the 15-year-old
was certainly more accessible, it was the slightly more aggressive
12-year-old that captured my heart.
This
became self-evident when the crisp, slightly battered, tender, flavourful
loligo squid arrived. The accompanying tangy capers and picked sweet red
pepper relish made the dish sparkle with the more assertive youngster.
While I have never married calamari and Islay malt before, I suggest that
you venture forth and give it a try. Harbour
Sixty executive chef Bruce
Kowalchuk suggested that the smoother 15-year-old would likely
be a perfect foil for fresh Florida Stone Crab claws arriving later this
month.
Moving on to Bowmore 17 Year Old with its rich, smoky, complex crème caramel nose - it will be released in Vintages on November 3rd at $89.95 (see note below). It was an amazing companion with an extraordinarily tender, flavourful rib-eye steak. This is no surprise as Harbour Sixty uses the finest cuts of corn-fed USDA prime from Bruss of Chicago. The accompanying fried tomato and delectable beef tallow fried frites were (and probably are) to die for. If you wish to see my (*****) review of what I think is the best steak house in Canada Click Here.
Stop the Press
(From
the National Post • November 13, 1999)
Here are some newly released best-bet Vintages spirits.
The first is Bowmore 17 Year
which has a gently peaty, rounded, baked plum taste with a
lingering finish. While Islay is famous for its strong, smoky,
medicinal, flavours, this
It's the oldest distillery on the island (1779), malts
its own barley and uses Sherry barrels in the aging process.
There
are 600 gift packs at $89.95, which includes two glasses
and a CD!
As
of yesterday some of these Gift Packs were
still available at Queen's
Quay!
Since the time of writing this spirit has been awarded
Best of
Show and Double Gold at the World
Spirits Competition 2000 and a Gold at
the
International Spirits Challenge 2000
Moving
on to dessert, a glass of Bowmore
Darkest “Sherry Casked” ($89.95
on the General List) appeared. It’s splendid with a lovely Oloroso
sherry nose and hints of heather, honey and chocolate. This one gets an
astonishing 91 points in Michael Jackson’s indispensable Malt
Whisky Companion. It was the perfect companion to slivers
of dark Valhrona chocolate. For further information on upcoming Bowmore 50th
anniversary releases call Schiralli
Agencies
416-253-4974. Click
Here to see the Bowmore website.
Sources:
Michael Jackson in his excellent Malt
Whisky Companion (1999
4th edition, Dorling Kindersley, 336 pages - $29.95) uses the
Robert Parker method of evaluating malts out of 100 points. Another excellent source is The
Malt Whisky File by
John Lamond and Robin Tucek (1997 2nd edition, Lyons Press, 240
pages). The latter rates the actual sweetness, peatiness and availability
out of 10 points for each malt reviewed.
The updated edition of the latter isn’t scheduled to appear until
next year. A rather attractive, large coffee table book by Helen Arthur Whisky
The Water of Life
(2000 1st Edition, Firefly Press, 224 pages - $39.95) is also
worth exploring.
Deep
Discounts: October
7th saw the LCBO “final delist” prices for 16 items. It
includes the tasty London Burning
Gin ($14.95 down from $21.95). The upcoming October
15th delist sale of 20 items, from Mango
Brandy ($16.55 down from $20.65) to magnums of Undurraga Sauvignon Blanc ($10.05 down from $15.65), features
discounts of 18%-40%. Click
Here to see the list of delisted products.
Coming
up this week: Fall always sees a cavalcade
of trade events all gearing up for the busy Christmas season. Starting
tomorrow through Tuesday is the CFRA’s annual HOSTEX
show at the International Centre. Wineries of the World in Hall
3 features wine tastings focusing on the wares of ten distributors. For
the rest of us, there’s next Saturday’s Greek Wine Festival 6:00 p.m. at Cypriot
Community Centre where some 70 wines will be available for tasting. It’s
a real deal for only $10. For info call 416-223-6567. Click
Here to see the list of upcoming events.
Copyright Food & Beverage Testing Institute of Canada
2004
Prior written permission is required for any form of reproduction
(electronic or other wise) and or quotation.
Contact Michael Vaughan at
mbv@total.net