Hi everyone,
Since everyone is posting Octomore’s over at r/Scotch at the moment, I thought I’d chime in too!
The first I’ve got is the first Octomore I ever tried, at a Bruichladdich tasting in Cardiff organised by a local whisky club.
The second is the Feis Ile release that was distilled 4 times.
Boring story: I met a lovely guy on a tour where I work, he came up to me at the end and we got to talking about whisky and such. He told me that while on Islay a few months ago, he had a masterclass at Bruichladdich and the person taking it had told him to taste a whisky, the Octomore Discovery 4x distilled. He said it was the most beautiful whisky he’d ever tried and the tears started to roll down his face as he tasted it. I thought wow, I want to taste that one day.
Then while I was on Islay, I spotted a bottle in a bar. I had to try it.
Octomore 6.1 57%
Colour: Gold
Body: Full
Nose: A big heavy dense nose. Alcohol- Absinthe, vodka, oily, tar, underlying sweetness, oaky sweetness, faint peat and a sweet chemical note- cleaning fluid, some fudge and toffee, rubber, raspberry tea, aniseed and liquorice.
Water: Peat coming through more, coal, charcoal, tyre, fragrant oak, floral- beeswax, citrus fruit- orange, lime and lemon, coconut as well.
Taste: Creamy arrival, immense building sweetness and creeping peat, a meaty note? And a metallic note.
Water: Huge. Peat and sweetness, rum and raisin, iodine, flint, rubber, tyre, liquorice root, fragrant oak, lots of spice (a bit of heat)- ginger and white pepper. Pear and vanilla too.
Finish: Long length. Tingling spice, oak and faint smoke. Lemon with water.
5yo, 167ppm, Bourbon barrel matured and Scottish barley. Beautiful bottle and whisky, really innovative. There's a young heat on the taste that doesn't really go away though, even with water.
82/100
Octomore Discovery 4x Distilled 69.5%
Colour: Gold
Body: Full
Nose: Soft barley and intense mineral. Restrained peat, brown bread, flour, granulated brown sugar.
Water: Lemon, charcoal. More water: More lemon, lemon juice squeezed over rocks, more Bruichladdich-y. Even more water: Lots of fresh brown bread, flour, a wisp of peat. After a bit- Hot chocolate and expresso, mint. After a long time- Lemonade.
Taste: Intense (Obviously). Alcohol, lemon, huge very mineral peat starts to come through and goes into the finish.
Water: Brown bread, flour, alcohol, lemon. More water: Finally alcohol gone, intense arrival on lemon and peat smoke, building development on mineral peat smoke, hot white pepper and zesty lemon.
Finish: Long/Very Long length. Lemon zest and very mineral peat.
Sherry casks, 7 years old. Great relationship between lemon and very mineral peat. A colossal abv, but not as complex as I was hoping, maybe because of the 4x distillation. No tears were shed in the tasting of this whisky.
82/100
Thanks for reading!
Scotch Review #331-#332
Whisky Network Review #364-#365
Network Average: 74.5
Best Score: 92
Worst Score: 44
0-49 Terrible
50-59 Bad
60-64 Just About OK
65-69 Ok to Good
70-74 Good
75-79 Very Good
80-84 Excellent
85-89 Superb
90+ Magnificent
Full Disclosure Disclaimer: I currently work as a Brand Ambassador for Penderyn Distillery. The views expressed here are purely my own and do not reflect the views of Penderyn Distillery or The Welsh Whisky Company. I try to maintain as much objectivity as I can but feel free to take my reviews with as big a pinch of salt as you like. Furthermore, my rating scale is NOT based on a Parker type wine scoring scale or a school/college/university % or A-F grade score. I apologise for any seemly low or 'bad' scores given with my system and am sorry I can't say only nice things. Please keep in mind that I am ethically compromised and am unable to produce 100% unbiased reviews.
No comments:
Post a Comment