Monday, December 3rd 2007

In his book Raw Spirit Iain Banks wrote something to the effect of "if you can't find a Bowmore that you like then you may just have to accept that you're wasting your money buying whisky."

I disagree. With one, single exception (which, granted, could be argued to prove his point) I've not found a Bowmore that I like, at least not a lot. The reason is that no matter which one I taste there's always the same base taste underneath it all. This is simply a function of how the whisky is produced initially and is probably down to the actual distilling process itself. Factors such as the shape of the still, the exact proportion of the middle cut etc. all have an effect long before the spirit comes into long-term contact with quercus alba or its ilk. For that reason all whiskies from the same distillery should have the same underlying character (for lack of a better term) and maturing it in bourbon casks or sherry casks or, Gods help us, custard barrels, isn't going to change that. Mask it, maybe, but not change it. Now don't get me wrong - I'm not for one minute suggesting that Bowmore produce bad whisky. Quite the reverse, they produce some top-notch stuff, it's just that I personally don't like it.

The exception that I mentioned above was a 30yo Bowmore that the owner of the holiday home we rented in Scotland last year let us sample. We'd been quite generous with the whiskies we'd purchased during our stay (and as this was the Speyside area there were quite a few), so he reciprocated. It was a lovely dram even though, yes, that same base taste was there. Somehow though it was subtler and more in harmony with the other flavours, not at all objectionable for once. It was finally a Bowmore that I liked.

I still don't think it proves Banksie's point though.