1997 Douglas Laing & Co. XOP Xtra Old Particular Bowmore 21 Year Old Single Cask Limited Edition Cask Strength Single Malt Scotch Whisky (700ml) - Bottled 2019

Laid to sleep at the distillery in November 1997 and bottled for Douglas Laing's Xtra Old Particular series in March 2019, single refill hogshead No.13080 yielded 289 hand-filled bottles. Collectors should note that Bowmores from the mid to late 1990s are considered among the distillery's better distillates. Prior to that (unless you're talking about legendary bottlings from the 1960s), Bowmore can be notoriously inconsistent. Cask strength expressions with any decent age statement are also a relative rarity. Those that do make it to market seem to quickly turn into investment trophies.

If you want an idea of what's on offer here, you get it from a sister cask, reviewed by Serge Valentin at whiskyfun.com (see below). As usual these XOPs look the goods too - complete with glass stopper decanter, wooden presentation case and certificate of authenticity. Non chill filtered. One only.

Notes from the bottlers... Bold and salty early on the nose, warming to a sweet peat character with obvious barley... palate opens with damp earth, coal dust, incorporating Summer tar, drifting smoke and a dulcet phenolic character. The finish is a fine replication of what went before.

Other reviews... [Sister cask tasted] In theory, this should be better than a peanut butter and mayo sandwich, as they say. Colour: straw. Nose: it’s a very citric one, it’s as if they have ‘pushed the limes’ all along the 1990s. Huge limes, grapefruits, and simply lemons. This is pretty spectacular, but of course, you have to enjoy your citrus. And if you love a large plate of oysters just as much, you’re in for a treat, as far as the nose is concerned. With water: oh, wee whiffs of crushed mint leaves! No, no, no McMojito please! Mouth (neat): this is funny, someone just redistilled some very good Alsatian or Austrian Rieslings. You say both? And then added a splash of seawater. With water: immaculate, pristine, crystal-clear salty and lemony smoke. Unbeatable outside around Loch Indaal. Finish: long, on the very same notes, which works out nicely. Comments: a fab un-doctored distillate al natural. The best configuration there is...
91 points - Serge Valentin, whiskyfun.com