The Kinship Bowmore 21 Year Old

Notes from Ardnahoe Master Distiller Jim McEwan:

"The spirit opens on the Islay saltiness balanced with a peatiness of between 25-30 ppm. While west Islays lead with the phenolics of the peat, Bowmore is more towards the marine influence. On opening it's a beautiful gentle peat note that emerges first, bringing with it the sweet hot mash flavours of the barley, then it's hints of sea pinks, bog myrtle and purple heather in bloom. On the next pass you are paddling in Loch Indaal as the tide goes out on a warm August day. Now you feel the warmth of the sand, the smell of wet seaweed and crushed shells. It takes me back to my childhood in Bowmore, how luck was I! As it's refill casks you get more oak and less of [a] bourbon influence. I love this particular bottling because of its honesty and integrity but, most importantly, the good honest men who passed on to me their skills and their pride in their whisky and to them I am truly indebted. Today you are sharing with me one of my creations, one of my many children. The memories never fade with the passing of the years."