There are collaborations that feel like marketing exercises, and then there are those rare pairings where you sense two obsessives found each other across different disciplines. Bowmore and Aston Martin have been at this since 2020, and by the time the 2023 Masters Selection landed — a 22-year-old Islay single malt bottled at a muscular 51% ABV — whatever scepticism I carried had mostly dissolved. Like a well-tuned GT engine, this whisky has presence before you even get close to it.
Bowmore sits on the shore of Loch Indaal, one of the oldest licensed distilleries in Scotland, and its malts have always carried that particular Islay duality: smoke that never fully overwhelms, sweetness that refuses to be polite. Twenty-two years in cask is serious time for any spirit, and at cask strength this is a whisky that has had the patience to become something considered. The Aston Martin connection here isn't cosmetic — the Masters Selection series is curated in collaboration with Aston Martin's design team, and the presentation reflects that intent. Whether the bottle justifies the £415 price tag is a question every drinker answers for themselves, but the liquid inside is not pretending to be something it isn't.
At 51% ABV, this sits in that satisfying sweet spot: enough strength to carry the weight of two decades without needing to bully your palate into submission. It rewards patience. A few drops of water open it gradually, the way morning light moves across a sea loch — slowly, then all at once. This is not a whisky that shouts. It has the quiet confidence of something that knows exactly what it is.
Tasting Notes
I'd encourage you to approach this one without a checklist. At 22 years old and bottled at natural strength, a Bowmore of this calibre will shift and evolve in the glass over the course of an evening. Expect the house character — that interplay of coastal smoke and tropical sweetness that Bowmore does better than almost anyone on Islay — amplified and deepened by over two decades of maturation. This is a whisky that tells you where it comes from.
The Verdict
At £415, this is firmly in the territory of considered purchases. But within that bracket, the 2023 Masters Selection delivers. It is unmistakably Bowmore, unmistakably Islay, and unmistakably a whisky that has earned its age statement. The Aston Martin collaboration adds polish to the presentation without diluting the identity of what's in the bottle — and at 51%, there's nothing diluted here at all. I'd give it an 8.1 out of 10: a genuinely accomplished dram that sits comfortably among Bowmore's stronger recent releases. It loses half a point for a price that puts it out of reach for most casual purchases, but for collectors and serious Islay devotees, this is one worth tracking down.
Best Served
Pour two fingers neat into a Glencairn and let it sit for ten minutes. Add three or four drops of cool water — no more — and let the glass do its work. This is a fireside whisky for a night when you have nowhere else to be. If you're feeling ceremonial about it, pair with a square of dark chocolate and the sound of rain on a window. Bowmore has always been a distillery that rewards stillness, and this 22-year-old is no exception.
