Bowmore closed its Devil's Casks trilogy in October 2015 with Batch III, the most unusual of the three. Where Batches I and II had been matured entirely in first-fill Oloroso sherry butts, Batch III drew on both first-fill Oloroso and first-fill Pedro Ximenez casks, the two components married together before bottling at cask strength of 56.7% ABV. It remained a 10-year-old.
The addition of PX was the distillery's farewell flourish to the series, and it shows. The nose is deeper and darker than its predecessors, heavier on the raisin and molasses, and the palate carries a syrupy sweetness that neither Batch I nor Batch II possessed. The peat has its work cut out to make itself heard above the sherry chorus, but Bowmore's oily, maritime smoke is not easily drowned, and it holds its ground through the finish.
Release quantities were again increased, and Batch III reached wider distribution than its siblings. Reception was mixed. Some reviewers preferred its richness and considered it the finest of the three; others found the PX contribution smothering and missed the cleaner balance of Batch I. Both views have merit, and both are still debated by those lucky enough to compare all three side by side.
What Batch III does achieve, without question, is a fitting close to the series. It feels like a deliberate statement rather than a simple re-run — Bowmore signing off with the richest, darkest Devil's Casks of the lot. The trilogy as a whole is now firmly in collector territory, prices for full sets well beyond their original shelf stickers, and Batch III is the bottle most likely to divide a tasting table. Which is, perhaps, exactly what a grand finale ought to do.
