I just read some story on X about a Bowmore for £250,000 or at least I read the headline. I can’t imagine many people are out there racing to the shops to get the latest Bowmore to drink and share with friends so the idea of a 55 year old “bottle” being snapped up for such a large figure seems pretty crazy to me.

As the ultimate antithesis I bring you a 10 year old unnamed single malt from Islay which I am fairly sure I picked up for £30 or so but is now shipping for £46 I see. At the price I remember it being you could get 8333 bottles for a single 55 year old Bowmore.

The Seaweed…. collection is all about stripping back the branding, the preconceived ideas and just opening a peated whisky with Islay character and enjoying a simple pleasure. Leave behind the marketing concepts and stories and purely focus on a finished product at 40% or as one of concentrated cask strength versions. Regardless of how many bottles you might have tried there is a fundamental flavour profile which lead you to Islay and the Seaweed bottles give you that at a price you can afford to open the bottle without risking the P&L.

Tasting Notes

Colour – orange

Nose – saline spray, light touches of raisin, iodine and charred dry wood

Palate – nose follows palate with a stronger stewed fruit and if I’m honest watery

Finish – shortish because of the strength short on the peat side but a sweetness lingers from the sherry casks

Final Thoughts

For me, but in fairness probably not for everyone. this is a bottle which could have used another 6 percentage points. The lower ABV might be good for trained tasters to pull out flavours but for me it just killed the energy and just a few drops of concentrated brilliance would have lit this back up.