Balls, benefits and galas don’t interest me as much as attending an official whisky launch.  Today marked the official launch of the Bowmore whisky in Singapore.

It was a privilege to be invited to sample the legendary Black Bowmore, and be among the few to taste the yet-to-be-botted White Bowmore.

Held at Bar Opiume, Indochine Waterfront on 11 May 2008, the tasting venue was lovingly done up with all the brand motifs, right down to the classy bronze hot-stamped black napkins.  They even have the cutest slab of dark chocolate to accompany the maltiness of the whisky.

Look at the colors of the whisky. There was the Bowmore 12 y.o, the 15 y.o and the 18 y.o. Then, they brought out the Black and the White.

I was completely blown away by the Black Bowmore. Full bodied, its intense richness was one that I had never tasted.  We all thought that there was this strong smell of grapefruit in its chocolatey fumes. There were whiffs of ginger and cinnamon.

Each of the 827 bottles of Black Bowmore is priced at approximately USD6,000. Obviously, a glass of Black Bowmore ought to be savored fully on its own, without water. But I needed just a hint of ice in it to fully bring out the fruity flavors in the midst of the distinctive Bowmore smokiness.

The White Bowmore had been distilled. But it hadn’t even been priced. It wouldn’t be too far away from the Black. True to its name, the White Bowmore was much lighter in color than the copper hues of the Black.  On the other hand, the White Bowmore was milder than the Black. Bottled in the same year of 1964, the White was aged 43yrs old.  The nose was faintly reminiscent of the frangipani. The vanilla fumes were tinged with the classic smokiness.  Still, I wasn’t too impressed by the White. But some of the friends were. They gushed over how subtle the White was.

It was quite hilarious how we were so so focused on whisky for 2 hours this afternoon. Some swore they smelt durian in the Black. Seriously now. Heheheh. I was very proud of my lads. They had come a long way from being vodka-loving peeps to whisky afficionados. We unanimously thought that the 12 y.o. tasted, a little, ahem, immature. I’m already quite a fan of Bowmore.

It was a very thoughtful gesture from the organizers- The Whisky Store, to hand door gifts of miniature bottles of Bowmore to the guests before we strolled away in the late afternoon sun.