Review by: ZoidbergOnTheRocks
Sploosh.
Now that the “resting period” is out of the way, let’s get down to it…
Tasted on 05/19/2022, neat in a Glencairn, water added later as appropriate.
The first in The Impossible Equation series, 12.1 is as usual matured in ex-bourbon casks and focuses on the distillate. I feel like the .1’s don’t often get a lot of love, but I usually quite like them. I had to cast a slightly wider net this time, so my 12.1 is a 700ml for the UK market while the .2 and .3 are 750ml US bottles from the local shop. Ironic that the “more available” expression was the harder one for me to find.
Distillery: Bruichladdich
Bottler: Distillery Bottling
Region: Scotland, Islay
ABV: 59.9%, cask strength
Age: 5 years old. Bottled on 07/14/2021.
Cask type: Bourbon
Natural color. Non-chill-filtered. 130.8 PPM.
Nose: seawater. Earth, damp peat. Wet leaves. Ashy wood smoke. Citrus on grapefruit, tangerines, lemon. Pears. Tar, diesel. Iodine, liquorice. Vanilla pods. With Water: oh yea. Opened into more medicinal notes, some camphor. More fruit. More smoke. Fatty meats. Great balance.
Taste: big smoke, earthy peat, and salty, salty seawater. Ashy. Sharp grapefruit. Fatty bacon. Nice mouthfeel. Tar. Iodine. Pepper. With Water: oily. More fruit. More tar, ash. More fat, somewhat herbal.
Finish: smoke, peat, seawater. Very salty. Grapefruit. Ash. The smoke rolls on w/ those big maritime notes and fruit. With Water: richer, earthier peat smoke. Still w/ lots of seawater and sharp fruit. Tar. More medicinal now. Smoke is bigger and grows in the mouth. Longer now, too. Nice.
Summary: okay, wow, I didn’t expect it would be quite this good. Water opens this right up and it gets bigger in every way. Balance is brilliant. A really clean, beautiful Octomore with all that big, earthy, damp peat smoke. Lots of sharp grapefruit, medicinal, hugely maritime with lots of salty seawater on the palate, nice tarry notes, fatty. Great mouthfeel. It’s not the most complex of drams, but I love what it brings to the table.
Would I buy a bottle? yep. Glad I have this one, and if I see one I’ll snag a spare. A bargain at twice the price.
Final Score: 93.
The second in The Impossible Equation series, 12.2 is a wine finish and this time we get Sauternes which has been, well, brilliant in the past. High expectations here for sure, though sometimes sauternes is polarizing.
For those wondering about the numbering system Bruichladdich is using here, check out their excellent blog post A Guide to the Octomore Numbering System.
Distillery: Bruichladdich
Bottler: Distillery Bottling
Region: Scotland, Islay
ABV: 57.3%, cask strength
Age: 5 years old. Bottled in 2021.
Cask type: 1st and 2nd fill American whiskey casks vatted and finished 18mo in first fill Sauternes casks
Natural color. Non-chill-filtered. 129.7 PPM.
Nose: wood smoke, earthy peat, both more subtle than the 12.1. Seaweed, warm damp sand and rocks. Lots of sweet citrus, lemon, peaches, melon. More tropical. Tea. Machine oil. A touch herbal. With Water: open up w/ bigger smoke, earthy peat, very maritime. Sweet. More oil. Ginger. Cream.
Taste: smoke, earth. Sweet, not too much. Peaches, apricots, coconut. Nice mouthfeel, oily. Tar. Green tea. Seawater. Fatty. Caramel. Very slightly medicinal. With Water: smoke. Oily. More tar. More medicinal.
Finish: lots of earthy peat smoke, and lots of sweet fruits very nicely balanced. Seaweed. Long finish lingering on smoke and those sweet fruits. With Water: bigger smoke, even sweet fruit. Seawater. Brighter. Longer. More medicinal, camphor. A light bitterness at the end of the finish now w/ time.
Summary: this is obviously sweeter than the other two, brighter fruit than the 12.3. The least medicinal of the trio. The sweetness is very, very well balanced w/ the peat and other classically Octomore notes. I was worried it was gonna be too sweet, but no, not at all. A subtle one in many ways, and water really opens it up quite a lot. Gets bigger in every way, better balance, adds medicinal notes and more tar and machine oil. Finish gets longer. Excellent swimmer.
The only downside here is there’s an odd, bitter note on the end of the finish that I can’t quite place. It’s not present in the other two at all. I thought I was crazy, but my wife found the same right away. This was trending more towards 9 before that.
Would I buy a bottle? I’d recommend it in general, and especially if you like the sweeter side. I have more than half a bottle left, and that’ll be enough for me I think. If I see another bottle I’ll pick it up as an awesome gift for close friends.
Final Score: 92.
The third in The Impossible Equation series, 12.3 is the single farm, single field, all Islay all the time version of the bunch. (Well, except for the actual malting, but we don’t say the quiet part out loud.) 75% of the batch is from ex-American whisky casks, and the rest is full-term in Pedro Ximenez Solera casks from Jerez bodega Fernando de Castilla. Some of my favorite Islays involve PX casks, and I often end up favoring the .3’s in these series, so once again expectations are high.
Distillery: Bruichladdich
Bottler: Distillery Bottling
Region: Scotland, Islay
ABV: 62.1%, cask strength
Age: 5 years old. Bottled in 2021.
Cask type: Bourbon / PXC
Natural color. Non-chill-filtered. 118.1 PPM.
Nose: Earthy peat, rich smoke. Farmyard. The most medicinal of the 3, with lots of iodine, camphor, cough syrup. Seawater, seashells. Bright lemon & peach, w/ apricots, dates, and candied peel. Tar. Malt. Warmer than the others. Marzipan. A bit herbal. With Water: richer, warmer. Toffee. Cocoa powder. Just as medicinal.
Taste: earthy peat smoke. Ash. Very medicinal. Seawater. Salty. Tarry. Cough syrup. Excellent mouthfeel. Chocolate. Smoked salmon. Fatty. A bit peppery. Not finding a lot of fruit neat. With Water: ah, there’s the fruit. Tar, black rubber. Spices. Yup.
Finish: big, big smoke, ash. Medicinal w/ iodine & camphor. Seawater. Tar. Apricots. Pepper. Long on smoke and medicinal notes mostly. With Water: more fruit. A bit dry, especially at the end. Still very long w/ almost everything in balance: smoke, medicinal/camphor, seawater, various fruits, dark chocolate, slightly tarry/creosote with a lingering spice.
Summary: darker and richer than the others for sure. The most medicinal, too, and the only one that’s a bit dry in the finish. More lingering spice, too, with all that smoke and those wonderful medicinal notes. Salty on the palate. The spiciest of the three as well. This one is right up my alley, and like the others it really opens up with just a little bit of water. The most complex of the three.
Would I buy a bottle? yes. I dig it, and if I see another bottle I’ll grab it. This was the most expensive of the three, and while the 12.1 is a better value I’d still be happy to have a spare of this one.
Final Score: 93.
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 