Bw3 Elements of Islay (distilled at Bowmore)

This is quite a saline Bowmore, but there is sufficient sliced apple, cut flowers, and fragrant smoke to give some degree of complexity to the nose. With water you get crisp oak, roasted barley, a hint of nectarine, bison grass, and wet reeds. Starting lean in the mouth, it darkens slightly into brambles and a dusty smokiness before picking up a citric tang on the finish. Slightly muted, but well balanced. £60/500 ml