Bowmore – 1971 34 Year Old Sherry Wood (70cl, 51%)

This is a Bowmore single malt from Islay, a 34 year old from the 1971 vintage, released in 2005 as a distillery bottling. It was matured entirely in sherry casks and bottled at its natural cask strength of 51%, in a 70cl bottle. Only 960 bottles were filled. It came out around the same time as the Black Bowmores and other prized releases from the distillery, and was somewhat overshadowed by them. It has since come to be regarded as a classic: a rich, deeply complex, old-style sherried Islay whisky.