Review by: ZoidbergOnTheRocks
Octomore is Bruichladdich’s “super-heavily peated” range, and is often considered the peatiest whisky. Most releases actually state the phenol level of the barley in PPM (parts per million) on the bottle. For reference, Lagavulin 16’s barley is peated to ~35 PPM.
The .1 are the standard bottlings, the .2 are travel retail exclusives, the .3 are their 100% Islay barley, and the more recent .4 have been virgin oak. There’s some random “freestyle” bottlings mixed in over the years, too.
I have 6 bottles, and samples of another 3, so I’m reviewing them all in series just for grins. I’m doing them in small groups over multiple sittings because I think it’d be impossible to do them all at once.
So let’s start with some .3’s.
Tasted on 11/20/2020, neat in a Glencarin to start, rested ~15min, then later with just a little bit of water.
This is their “uber-provenance” expression from grain harvested from a single field on Islay, in this case Lorgba. Matured all on Islay in American oak and Spanish Ribera del Duero wine casks.
Distillery: Bruichladdich
Bottler: Distillery Bottling
Region: Scotland, Islay
ABV: 63.0%
Age: 5 years old. Bottled on 03/21/2017.
Cask type: Bourbon Barrels & Ribera del Duero Wine Casks
Natural color. Non-chill-filtered.
Nose: big earthy peat, smoke, seawater, lemon, medicinal, toffee, floral, malt, bacon, mint, mineral w/ warm sand, sea shells, flint. Wow. With water: more mineral, meaty, fatty, medicinal. Warm bread.
Taste: smoke, peat, medicinal, seawater, sweet lemon, oily mouthfeel, maple bacon, machine oil, malt, toffee, malty, ginger, a touch floral. With water: damn, the mouthfeel got even better. Fatty. More medicinal. Perhaps some peach.
Finish: a big burst of rich, earthy peat and smoke, salty seawater, crisp lemon, iodine, machine oil, mint, ginger, very long on peat, mild ginger, smoke, and medicinal notes with some lingering lemon and an oily coating. With water: Wow.
This is a big, rich, beautiful dram. Earthy, big smoke, sea and medicinal notes with lemon and some surprising floral and mineral notes. Extremely well balanced despite the big peat and smoke, and a very crisp, clean nose. There’s a crisp minerality to it throughout that is excellent. Very salty. Mouthfeel is superb. Adding a little bit of water, really just 5-6 drops, it gets bigger. Fatty, more medicinal, the finish is huge.
Hmm… honestly, it was adding a touch of water to this that tipped the scales one this one.
Final Score: 96.
Edition 09.3, 133 PPM. This is 100% Islay grown Concerto barley harvested in 2011 from Irene’s Field, Octomore Farm, and distilled in 2012. So another of their “uber-provenance” bottlings with everything on Islay.
Distillery: Bruichladdich
Bottler: Distillery Bottling
Region: Scotland, Islay
ABV: 62.9%, cask strength
Age: 5 years old. Distilled in 2012. Bottled in 2018.
Cask type: 1st fill ex-American (25%), 3rd fill virgin oak (25%), 2nd fill Rivesaltes (20%), 2nd fill Syrah (20%), 2nd fill bourbon (10%)
Natural color. Non-chill-filtered. One of 18,000 bottles.
Nose: coal smoke, peat, vanilla, oak, lemon, apricot, sea spray, iodine, malt, mineral, mint, mineral oil, herbal, a hint of wine, pepper. With water: a bit of a darker fruit note comes through.
Taste: big peat, smoke, bacon, lemon, herbs, seawater, pepper, medicinal, very oily thick mouthfeel, oak, slightly dry. With water: very similar, mouthfeel got even better.
Finish: wow, big burst of peat smoke, mint, a bit dry, pepper, seawater, lemon, ash, lots of medicinal notes, toffee, malt, mineral. Long and consistent with an oily coating in the mouth. With water: similar.
Wow, this is also excellent. Big and peaty, coal smoke, salty sea and medicinal notes with quite some vanilla, oak, and citrus. Nice minerality, excellent mouthfeel, and a big long finish. Reasonable balance, though it is dominated by the smoke for sure. Not that that’s bad. An hour later and it’s the smokiest of the three by far.
Final Score: 92.
Edition 11.3, 194 PPM. Being a .3, this is their 100% Islay local expression again this year. From their website: “Distilled in 2014 from the 2013 harvest of 100% Octomore Farm grown Concerto barley. Full term maturation in first fill American whiskey casks from Jim Beam, Heaven Hill, Buffalo Trace and Jack Daniels. Matured entirely on Islay for five years.”
Distillery: Bruichladdich
Bottler: Distillery Bottling
Region: Scotland, Islay
ABV: 61.7%, cask strength
Age: 5 years old. Bottled on 07/06/2020.
Cask type: first fill american white oak
Natural color. Non-chill-filtered. One of 18,000 bottles.
Nose: vegetal peat, smoke, fruity citrus lime peach apricot, sea shells, quite floral, herbal, coal, mineral warm sand, malt, vanilla, light mint. With water: a touch of earthiness, even more floral, iodine.
Taste: very fruity w/ lime, peach and apricot, peat, smoke, mint, ginger, bacon, medium-thick mouthfeel, machine oil, some big floral notes for sure, some bready notes, malt. With water: similar.
Finish: big vegetal peat, smoke, salt, seaweed, iodine, lots of fruit, ginger, malt, long on smoke, salt, medicinal and oil. With water: similar.
Crisp and clean throughout. Bright. Most fruity and floral of the three for sure. Excellent marine and medicinal notes blended with the peat, smoke, fruit, and flowers is very good. While I dig the richness of the other two, there’s something to be said for the brightness in this one. Water doesn’t do as much for this as it does the other two, but it still brings out more on the nose.
Final Score: 92.
Comparison
Order: 7.3 > 9.3 > 11.3
These are all excellent. They’re all a bit different from each other for sure. The 7.3 has this big and earthy peatiness to it that is outstanding. The 9.3 has a more coal smoke and herbal character. The 11.3 puts the fruity and floral notes forward then backs it up with a really solid and more vegetal peat. For me, I love a big, earthy, peaty dram, so the 7.3 wins out.
Someone’s gonna want to know which one is the smokiest. Over the entire sitting it’s the 9.3… there’s a lot more to it than just PPM.
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.
Malt Runners 
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