Origin: Isle of Islay (Scotland)
Type: Single Malt Scotch Whisky
Strength: 57.3%ABV
Ageing casks: Ex-Bourbon and ex-wine
Chillfiltered: No
Added coloring: No
Owner: Bruichladdich (Rèmy Cointreau)
Average price: € 240.00
Official website: www.bruichladdich.com
Vote: 90/100
After the ‘control’ bottling, here’s the first finishing for the 12th version of Octomore, the well-known Bruichladdich peated whisky, finished in former wine casks as tradition often dictates for the .2 in the annual series.
Distilled in 2015 (129.7ppm of peat, to those interested) from Scottish barley harvested a year earlier, it spent three and a half years in first and second-fill ex-Bourbon casks (50 and 50) with refinement in ex-Sauternes casks until bottling in mid-2021, at cask strength.
Tasting notes
A pungent nose expressing a very earthy and woody nature, where pine needles, resin and slight balsamic tones lead to a pine forest after the rain, with mineral hints piercing the air. Roasted peanuts, pineapple flambé, orange peel and candied apple add to the picture, with a touch of pickled olives and burnt tobacco leaves. The sweet tones always appear on the verge of prevailing, immediately joined by the peated component that is decisive but not suffocating. An elegant and fascinating balancing act. With the addition of water, the mineral part grows at the expense of smoke, emphasising fruit and spices.
The high alcohol content doesn’t fail to pitch on the palate, dragging black pepper, cloves and cumin over candied fruit (orange, mango, apricot) with a good dose of grilled pineapple slices, praline peanuts and sweet and sour sauce. The tormented struggle between sweet and sour, wood and salt returns, a rich tourbillon of flavours that fill the mouth, united by the fil rouge of smoke and roasting embodied in coffee beans, burnt mushrooms and nuts. A few drops of water raise the tone of the spices and sweet part, upsetting the balance: better without.
Long finish of sweet and acrid smoke at the same time, with mineral and fruity touches intruding ash and salt.
Energetic, rich, elegant, multifaceted… the Octomore series continues to churn out bottlings that may not always be excellent but cannot leave you indifferent, and this is probably one of the most successful I have tasted so far. The price is perhaps the only real flaw that can be imputed to it, but this alas also applies to many others.