I’m sure you’re aware of the Bowmore x Aston Martin collaboration. It led to a series of premium expressions as well as a number of travel retail bottlings. I was able to try the first edition of the 10 Year Old in this series. The most affordable version by far.
It celebrates the lovely Aston Martin LM10 team car on the box. The whisky is a selection of sherry casks and hogsheads.
Bowmore 10 yo ‘Dark & Intense’ (40%, OB ‘Aston Martin Edition’ 2021, sherry casks and hogsheads, travel retail)
Nose: not very complex, but nicely rounded, with vanilla, glazed bacon, oranges and a faint hint of tropical fruit (overripe mango, papaya, pink grapefruit). Also raisins and caramel, as well as smoky leather and nice tobacco notes. Hey, this is surprisingly good, certainly better than the regular 10, I’d say.
Mouth: really soft now, not to say quite watery. Too bad, because the flavours are really nice again. Tobacco with a clear salty edge. Really gentle smoke. Then chocolate and dark maple, with roasted nuts and a hint of black pepper. A bitter hint of coffee too, although it may also be the wood influence.
Finish: medium, bittersweet with mineral notes. Then salty smoke and coffee. Hints of grapefruit again.
I had really high hopes after the excellent nose, which aren’t entirely met on the palate. A very nice effort though, which could have been a real must-have at a higher strength. Assuming travellers aren’t always the biggest whisky connoisseurs, I’m sure many will find it impressive already. As often, also available outside of travel retail, see Master of Malt for instance, or cheaper from Whiskysite.nl.