Those who follow my tastes know that Bowmore is one of the distilleries I consider a true enigma. It remains among the finest whiskies on the planet by any measure, yet the contrast between the distillery bottlings, which are perfectly acceptable but rarely transcendent without spending ungodly amounts of money, and the quality of the independent bottlings currently available to us is truly absurd. Every modern Bowmore cask we have received from our suppliers has been absolutely spectacular, and part of the charm is that no two are ever quite alike. This is the beauty of handmade single malt, and a significant proportion of Bowmore’s barley is still malted by hand. In my opinion, it is precisely that inconsistency that makes these whiskies so compelling. If every cask tasted the same, what would be the point of buying single barrels? So here we go with another beautiful barrel of Bowmore. The color is a perfect deep copper (1.0). The nose offers a remarkable mélange of salty maritime intensity and wild tropical fruit: lychee, sweet saltwater taffy, diesel oil, camphor, roasted almonds, dried mango, pink peppercorn, and malty smoke. The palate is vibrant and angular, with a huge mineral note and dense, billowing smoke. After all that talk about the individuality of single casks, this one feels quintessentially Bowmore in the best possible way. If we continue to find barrels like this, there is no question that we are entering a new era in which Bowmore’s preeminence will once again be more widely recognized.