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Bowmore 1999 Old Particular Feis Ile Bottling 2016 (Douglas Laing)

Christopher Hayn — Wed, 25 May 2016 17:20:00 +0000

It’s Bowmore open day at the Feis Ile, so let’s have some Bowmore! And since I don’t have one of the official Feis Ile bottles at my disposal, I did the next best thing and grabbed this year’s Feis Ile bottling from Douglas Laing, a 16 years old Bowmore from a refill hogshead. As it is always the case with the Old Particular series, this is a single cask release (with a yield of only 246 bottles this time) and is neither colored nor chill filtered.

Last year’s Laphroaig 2001 Feis Ile Bottling was absolutely outstanding, so I have high expectations for this one.

Facts

Name:	Bowmore 1999
Bottled for:	Feis Ile 2016
Bottler:	Douglas Laing
Bottling Series:	Old Particular
Distilled:	September 1999
Bottled:	March 2016
Category:	Single Malt Scotch Whisky
Distillery:	Bowmore
Cask Type:	Refill Hogshead
Strength:	48.3% vol.
Cask No.:	DL11107
No. of Bottles:	246
Colored:	No
Chill Filtered:	No

Nose

Surprisingly mineral and salty (sea salt), with a good portion of peat and sweetish vanilla flavored smoke. Peaches, alongside other orchard fruits. Hints of cacao powder and smoked ham. Maybe some wild berries.

Taste

Lots of sweet barley at first, followed by chili chocolate and frosted orange peel. Gets more chocolaty, reminds me quite a bit of a thick chocolate drink now. Ends on notes of green apples.

Finish

Long. The peat smoke comes back. Malty and slightly spicy with fruity sweetness. A little bit chocolaty, too.

Overall

Maybe a bit too spicy and raw on the palate, but besides that, this is another well selected Feis Ile bottling from Douglas Laing. It’s definitely worth the price (about 150€) if you don’t mind to pay a Feis Ile premium. That said, I liked last year’s Laphroaig a lot more, but maybe that’s because I prefer Laphroaig over Bowmore in general. Anyways, if you are lucky to find a bottle, go ahead and buy one. You will not reget it!

Score: very good and highly recommended (89 / 100)

Laphroaig 2001 Old Particular Feis Ile Bottling 2015 (Douglas Laing)

Christopher Hayn — Fri, 19 Jun 2015 17:56:05 +0000

I meant to review this bottling already three weeks ago during the Feis Ile festival. But the mailing service here is everything but reliable at the moment so the bottle did not arrived in time. And with the release of both Ardbeg Perpetuum and Benriach Dunder I had to postpone this review until today.

Anyways, what we have here is Douglas Laing’s first ever Feis Ile Bottling, a 14 Years Old Laphroaig from a refill butt. As always, this Old Particular bottling is a single cask release (with a yield of 636 bottles this time) and is neither colored nor chill filtered. On top of that, it is bottled at 48.4% ABV and to me, this is pretty much the minimum strength required for a Laphroaig.

As some of you might know, I am not exactly the biggest fan of the new official Laphroaig 15 Years Old, so let’s see what this independent bottled Laphroaig with roughly the same age has to offer.

Facts

Laphroaig 2001 Old Particular Feis Ile Bottling 2015 (Douglas Laing)

Name:	Laphroaig 2001 Old Particular Feis Ile Bottling 2015 (Douglas Laing)
Bottler:	Douglas Laing
Bottling Series:	Old Particular
Distilled:	February 2001
Bottled:	February 2015
Category:	Single Malt Scotch Whisky
Distillery:	Laphroaig
Cask Type:	Refill Butt
Strength:	48.4% vol.
Cask No.:	DL10694
No. of Bottles:	636
Colored:	No
Chill Filtered:	No

Nose

Laphroaig-tastic! Everything you would expect: medicine, iodine and bandages. Smoldering ashes. Backed up by a very fine sherry sweetness. After a few minutes a light fruitiness comes to light. A bit sour around the edges now.

Taste

Sweet and phenolic at the same time. White peaches. Then the peat gets stronger and sharper. Ash. Lemons.

Finish

Long and sweet with a gentle peat smoke. Again phenolic. Lemon salt.

Overall

A truly excellent cask. All the features of a classic Laphroaig combined with a rich sweetness for the extra “oomph”. Absolutely brilliant and outstanding bottling.

Score: 96 / 100