Review by: zSolaris

Distillery: Bruichladdich

Region: Islay

Age: 8 year.

Cask Type: 4 years in first fill bourbon, 4 years in third fill Sauternes casks

Peat PPM: 96.9

ABV: 56.9%

Color: 1.3, Russet/Muscat. Natural Color and Non-Chill Filtered

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Nose: It starts off with some stone fruits in the form of nectarines and apricots. There’s some smoke, of course, and it’s on the sweeter side of things. Every so often I get a note of grape jolly ranchers in all of its artificial and ridiculously sweet goodness.

Palate: This is surprisingly sweet with some sugary notes as well as some of the malt coming through. There’s a lot of sweet smoke as well and the combination of the two make me imagine a smoked cotton candy (Is that a thing? A quick Google search indicates it might be). Some fruit does pop in as well in the form of citrus as well as some sweet white grapes. The grape note is actually so sweet that I’m reminded of ice wine. With water, the smoke fizzles out and the sweet and fruity notes absolutely dominate.

Finish: Long, strong and peaty. With some water, some of the stone fruits from the nose come out.

Conclusion: Never would I have imagined having an Octomore where the peat is not the centerpiece. Somehow, this one manages to do that. Even without any added water, it’s so sugary and sweet throughout. Some of it comes in the form of fruit, some of it is the malt peeking through, and some of it is just pure sugar. The sauternes cask influence is still felt quite a bit with a very sweet wine note popping in toward the end and getting even stronger. While there is a bit of smoke and peat lingering here and there, it plays second fiddle to the sweetness and things feel a little off balanced because of it. Still a pretty good whisky, just slightly out of balance for my tastes.

Final Score: 82.

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Scoring Legend:

• 95-100: As good as it gets. Jaw-dropping, eye-widening, unforgettable whisky.
• 90-94: Sublime, a personal favorite in its category.
• 85-89: Excellent, a standout dram.
• 80-84: Quite good. Quality stuff.
• 75-79: Decent whisky worth tasting.
• 70-74: Meh. It’s definitely drinkable, but it can do better.
• 60-69: Not so good. I might not turn down a glass if I needed a drink.
• 50-59: Save it for mixing.
• 0-49: Blech.