Tonight we were at the flagship location of the BCL at Cambie, you could tell something special was happening. Parked right by the entrance was the Aston Martin Vantage in their trademark turquoise. It a special guest, to represent the Bowmore and Aston Martin collaboration we would be learning more about and tasting tonight.
As an added special treat for those who purchased tickets for tonight’s limited release tasting, guests were able to take a seat within the Vantage and rev its engine. I definitely took advantage of this ability and thought it a perfect introduction to the night.
Within the liquor store, towards the back, we would make ourselves comfortable in their private entertaining and tasting room. A classroom setting for the following tasting seminar. We would get a guided tour of Bowmore’s entire Sherry oak cask series, climaxing at the fourth and final bottle in their Aston Martin master collaboration series.
As guests trickled in, we helped ourselves to individual boxes of charcuterie from The Lazy Gourmet. Rice crackers, prosciutto, figs, and olives. A mix and match assortment, I ate all of, to ensure a healthy base for all the fine drinking ahead.
Each pre-set seating including 5 glasses lined up on a marked placemat and a gift of crystal tumblers to take home.
The night began with some fun facts. Bowmore is the second most collectable single malt scotch in the world, the first is Macallan, due to the sheer volume that they produce. They are the oldest distillery in Isla, and the second oldest distillery in all of Scotland. The unicorn is the official national animal of Scotland, not the Loch Ness monster, as many assume. Either way, both are mythical creatures.
Bowmore is underway in updating their labels. The old bottles were white, the new ones will be all black, with a red stripe denoting the Sherry cask. The latter, a permanent collection as a part of Bowmore’s regular portfolio.
Our tasting started with Bowmore’s 12 year old classic single malt, as the quintessential example of what they do. This was the perfect glass to learn how to drink whisky with. Tips our host learned from master distillers.
Despite common practice, you don’t swirl your whisky. At 40% ABV swirling opens up the alcohol and releases its ethanol. The result is the pure scent of alcohol wafting, leaving you with a burning smell and taste on your palate.
Instead, it is recommended that you tilt the glass and rotate it back and forth. Slowly, ever moving it closer and closer to your chin and nose. It is with this motion, and from this distance that you get the true notes of the whisky on your nose.
The 12 year old was a slightly peated single malt. As a collaborative group we got smoke, leather, and brick.
We learned about the legs of a whisky, much like the ones you would note in wine. We compared our 12 year old to the 21 year old. The legs denote alcohol content. The higher in alcohol, the less water, which means the legs don’t fall.
Our first sip coats the lips. We take it down in less than a second. The tingle at the back of our cheeks is our mouth adding water/saliva to it. Like how one would add water to whisky to open it up, our body automatically does this for us.
On our second sip, we want to chew the whisky, like we would bubblegum. In doing so layers develop and depth is added to the whisky.
For taste we got ashes, a green grassy moss, caramel, vanilla, and honey.
Next, we moved onto the Sherry Oak barrel aged 12 year old whisky. Comparing the two 12 year olds, they are the same at their base, yet so different with this influence. A darker colour and a whole new flavour profile.
We got honey and stone fruits, like apricot and kumquat on the nose. Followed by oatmeal raisin cookie with brown baked sugars, and tropical notes like papaya.
The Bowmore Sherry cask 18 year allocated more time in a Pedro Ximenez Sherry cask, adding a bolder pop. I got waxy crayon on the nose, with hickory, cinnamon, cereal, and black pepper on the palate.
The 21 year old gave us more peppery tobacco notes, accompanied by dark fruits, leather, smoke, and toasted nuts. You could make out the Sherry influence.
And the finale was the Aston Martin Master Selection, a collaboration born from the shared ideology of both global brands. Marketed as an affordable luxury bottle for the consumer with 3,000 bottles batched. Its recipe utilized the golden ratio, much like how Aston Martin crafts their cars. Specific ratios of multiple barrels and various fills, at different percentages. It was described as being very precise and “sciency”.
Distilled in 1982, it is listed as being 21 years old to denote the youngest age statement within the mix. At 51.4% ABV it had a greater oily viscosity. The room found it transformative with fresh waffle and sweet toffee, transitioning into the warmth of hearth spices like clove.
Just like how the master designer for Aston Martin went to a Bowmore to create this series, the master distiller of Bowmore went to Aston Martin to design a special model of their DBX. Only 18 versions of this vehicle was manufactured. The seats were dressed in the Bowmore tartan, the twine from their Bowmore’s copper stills were stitched into the dash, and those who purchased the sports car had to pick each up at Bowmore‘s Isla distillery.
Not on the tasting menu, but another exclusive Bowmore X Aston Martin Collab, and the new crown jewel of Bowmore’s portfolio is the ARC-54. Sadly, we did not get a taste of this. This is a uniquely crafted decanter modelled after the diffuser of the Aston Martin Valkyrie Hypercar. On the car it channels the way air moves around and through the body and over the wings. On the bottle, it provided the perfect economic grip to rest heavy bottle on open palm. No two bottles are alike, each lid and decanter are crafted to be a pair. To remove the lid you use the branded magnet to unlock the securing mechanism.
Bowmore Arc 54-Year-Old, is an extraordinary whisky born from Bowmore’s collaboration with Aston Martin. With only 126 decanters worldwide, this exquisite release is available exclusively through a draw at BCLIQUOR. Retailed at $115,000 (plus taxes and container deposit).
In conclusion, this was not only an informative seminar, but a way to taste our way through Bowmore‘s variety of collections. We walked away with a gift and memories of many firsts. Big fan.
BCLIQUOR 39Th & Cambie
5555 Cambie St, Vancouver, BC V5Z 3A3
(604) 660-9463
bcliquorstores.com
