Both the Bowmore and the Aston Martin are stalwarts in their own right; backed by a rich history with each offering qualitative contributions in their own fields. An outcome from yet another collaboration between the two, were a series of expressions, a tri-series – The Bowmore Aston Martin 10, along with the older 15 and the well aged 18 YO.

At first glance, the 10 is certainly eye candy, dawning the car maker’s LM10, the car that first graced the Le Mans in 1932 and possibly the only Aston Martin to win three straight Le Mans consecutively. The bottle sticks to the traditional bowmore contours, with both bottle and box carrying the luxury automotive logo in a lush BRG (British Racing Green); more points for the colour!!

This Bowmore 10 is matured in a combinational of spirits aged in sherried oak and hogshead casks and is a travel exclusive, just like the standard 10! I, for one, am keen to see how these spirits would differ from one another, aka – who gets the chequered flag?!

ABV: 40%

Eye : Tawny | Artificial Colouring

Nose : Caramel interleaved with spices, such as cinnamon sticks and white pepper; mild maritime, charred papayas and red apples, dark raisins and plums with hints of Christmas cake.

Taste : Brine with the sweetness of caramel,  herbal hints and raisins, grains, and charred wood with dried fruits that are still reminiscent on the palate.

Finish : Dried fruits, plums and red wine with a woody finish | Medium

The Aston Martin 10 shines with its sherried influence but isn’t as full-bodied as I would expect. It does harbour good breadth and depth and does deliver those sherried flavours, albeit in a tapered fashion. Now the bigger question… Does it differ from the Standard Bowmore 10?

Both bottlings are quite similar in terms of its maturation, being travel exclusives and with similar descriptions on its labels – ‘Dark and Intense!’ They both come bottled at the standard 40% abv and are also identical on the eyes but is there a noticeable difference when pitted against the other senses??

The core flavours are identical unsurprisingly, but the Bowmore 10 appears to be slightly pronounced and forthcoming on the nose, while the Aston Martin (AM) 10 is relatively subtle. The AM 10 seemed to have a comparatively larger spread on the palate, felt rounded and fuller, with the former being spirited and lively but fizzed after its initial glory. There’s really little that separates the two, with the AM inching a bit further. For the extra bucks though, it doesn’t really sing, making it harder to justify the added burden on the pocket. It does make you wonder though, why bring such a travel exclusive with a lack of significant differentiation.

Now the ball buster…I had reached out to the distillers, and they responsed a few days after I had penned the review and their take – “The Aston Martin 10 & 10 Year are the same whiskies, these are exclusive to the Global Travel Retail Markets and were repackaged to celebrate the partnership with Aston Martin.”

The delta between the two expressions could have been attributed to the bottles being opened at varied times, oxidised differently, or even originated from different batches perhaps. Hilarious aye!?

Preference : At standard ABV, this one doesn’t need much dilution and can be enjoyed as is!

Slainte peeps!