Islay Blended Malt 1997 Octaves [From Paris with Love]

Hi everyone,

Today is the last of the Paris notes (London to come!), and the one I finished with was another Duncan Taylor from the Octaves range. This one though, isn’t a Single Malt but a Blended Malt, all from Islay.

Just to remind you, an Octave is a smaller barrel that’s around 50L.

 

Islay Blended Malt 1997 Octaves 50%

Colour: Light Amber

Body: Full

Nose: Really intensely peaty! Metallic and medicinal.

Taste: Intense peat with sweet orange, malty, some nuttiness, nutmeg spice, oak.

Finish: Medium length. Much more sweetness, orange, slightly rubbery. Not as good in the finish though.

17yo, with 7 months in the Octave. Can't really get behind the smoke on the nose, which is a shame because it seems like there’s complexity behind.

74/100

Thanks for reading!

Scotch Review #474

Whisky Network Review #541

Network Average: 74.3

Best Score: 92

Worst Score: 22

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. You can find more on my scoring here. 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.

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