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No distillery in Scotland exhibits such a disparity between the quality and complexity of modern bottlings and the few independently bottled expressions. It's almost as if they've systematically sold off their most interesting barrels. Or maybe it's just that this whisky loves to be at full strength. That said, we haven't tasted a single cask of Bowmore in the modern era (post 1995) that wasn't exceptional. And while they're rare and almost always extremely expensive, we occasional get lucky and access one at an altogether reasonable price. There's something simply magical about cask strength single barrel Bowmore. It does not fit in any pre-conceived boxes. It is so distinctly Islay, yet completely unlike its neighbors. This delicious barrel was filled in July of 2014 and exhibits a hyper complex aromatic style. The nose begins with a powerful nutty character which morphs into wild tropical fruit, rare, polished woods -mahogany and sandalwood- and the highest quality chocolates imaginable. The background notes of mango and guava translate beautifully onto the palate where sweet salty peat is layered on top before finding a layer of oily kippers is hiding beneath. It's all at once extremely fruity, smoky, salty, earthy and savory. With a drop of water, the valleys are deepened at the peaks grow. Bigger tropical fruit, more salt and exotic wood. A perfectly idiosyncratic expression of this magical distillery, bottled at 62.1% abv without chillfiltration or any coloring.