Single Malt
Bruichladdich
Scotland
Unveiled in 2014, Octomore 06.3 Islay Barley was made with barley grown on Islay. In fact, the crop was grown in the field known as Lorgba on Octomore farm! As ever with Bruichladdich's Octomore expressions, it's heavily, heavily peated, with the 06.3 sitting at a massive 258 PPM. It's not the thump to the head with a peat block that you might be expecting; Bruichladdich have produced a hugely flavoursome and hugely impressive whisky with real depth and elegance. And, well, yes, plenty of peat, too.
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By far one of the best Scotch Whiskys I've ever tried. Recently even bought a bottle for my old Science teacher for his retirement. Makes for a great gift if you can get your hands on a bottle.
"The Beast" is the nickname I've given this bottle since it'll close the show of any tasting and dominates everything poured before it. As LiquorHound and others here have reported, it needs to breath. Once it's oxidized (3+ months), it's next to impossible to find another whisky that competes at this level regardless of price. The problem with all the awards (or lack thereof) is that it truly needs to rest and it doesn't particularly enjoy having water added to it. If they understood that, this would easily be a multi-gold award winner. This was Jim McEwan's swan song, and he went out with a bang!
This Dram needs to breath, 15 to 30 mins. it just gets better and better. When put side by side with all of the best, Ardbeg, Laphroaig Lagavoulin it comes out way on top. just so much going on in this DRAM. But again let it breath, and please no water.
This whisky is a contradiction within itself. It starts out as the most heavily peated malted barley in the world at 258ppm phenols, but I would suggest the final spirit is somewhere around 40ppm. COATLINE is long lasting, legs are thin suggesting a young whisky. Nose is IMO dominated by germonline like aroma, a U.K. Antiseptic cream. Iodine is present, as is of course peat, but more in the background than one would expect. Palate is again reflective of germonline, cherries and nutmeg. Finish is long and peaty with a chilli. Contradiction lies with the distillation. Tall stills with long necks refine the whisky so much that the peatiness is reduced and dominated by other aromas and flavours. The malt starts off so peaty, but the final spirit is not so. The familiar bonfire and burnt firewood of the KILDALTON distilleries is absent in my opinion. Bruichladdich is not designed to produce a try peated whisky. Ardbeg is, as is Laphroaig. A bit like trying to build a Rolls Royce in a Ferrari factory.
Make no mistake, this dram has a big peated whallop. At 64% its no joke, and not recommended for beginners. With that said this powerhouse is strangely approachable, while i take mine with a touch of water, its not nearly as much as i was expecting to need. Lots of peat, Lots of smoke, but with subtle vanilla and floral notes. that make this a well balanced dram. My favorite of the octomore line for sure. Enough to justify another bottle or two.
