A couple of months back, I had the chance to try the latest batch of Bowmore Tempest – numero quatro (or IV, to you Latinistas out there).
However, I realised recently that I hadn’t had a chance to write about it here on Miss Whisky, which is a shame since I very much enjoyed the dram.
With this in mind, I thought I’d give it another try and pass on my thoughts on this Bowmore release.
To start: a little bit of background. The Tempest is part of an annual release of “small batch” (in this case, under 2,000 cases) of cask strength whisky that has been matured in first-fill ex-bourbon casks. Batch IV is 10 years old and has been bottled at 55.1%.
The whisky has a lovely golden hue that zings in the glass. On the nose, while there is smoke, underneath that is a big, bold hit of peaches, along with some perfumey white flowers, vanilla and tea. It’s alluring through and through, and the high ABV didn’t smack me around the nose as much as I thought it would.
Moving on to the palate, the whisky is oily and quite sweet, with a punchy bourbon influence (vanilla and spice) and chewy peach sweets – it’s a powerhouse of a candy-shoppe dram. The smoke is, of course, there is folds but it’s wonderfully balanced so as to allow a person to get under its skin. The whisky finished on a note of butter and ashes.
With water, meanwhile, the whisky became a bit more delicate, and the smokiness actually became more apparent for me as the whisky broke down in the glass. More citrus notes also emerged. Despite the high ABV, I preferred this one without water.
The Tempest is certainly a big, stormy whisky – it’s bold and fierce but well balanced with those fleshy fruit and creamy vanilla notes. Delicious!
