Review by: dustbunna
Bruichladdich has weathered its fair share of criticism about Octomore being a gimmick: it’s often five-year-old spirit (though occasionally a few years older), released at a premium price point, with every release featuring an unusually highly peated malt (100+ PPM prior to distillation.) In my experience, however, that high PPM does not necessarily translate to an equally heavy peat smoke experience in the whisky, and Bruichladdich’s tall, narrow-necked stills, the extremely narrow cut they take for this spirit, and the high quality of the casks they choose for aging all have an impact on what makes Octomore taste like Octomore. This release also used local Islay barley grown on Octomore Farm (as do all the X.3 releases.)
Buying this whisky was quite the occasion for me. It still remains the most expensive bottle I’ve placed in my cabinet, and I bought it after a lot of hand-wringing and indecision over whether it was worthwhile to spend north of $200 on a bottle of five-year-old spirit. I cracked this in March of 2021, to celebrate after having recovered from my first Covid vaccine— I felt like my world might possibly be able to move forward after what had been a year-long feeling of disarray and paralysis. Ever since, it’s mostly been on hopeful or joyful occasions that I’ve reached to the back of my cabinet to pour it again.
Distillery: Bruichladdich.
Bottler: Official bottling.
Region: Islay.
ABV: 63%. Cask strength.
Age: 5 years. Distilled in 2010. Bottled in 2015.
Cask type: Ex-bourbon and ex-Ribera del Duero red wine vatting.
Price: $210 USD.
Peated to 169 PPM. Natural Color. Non-chill-filtered.
Bottle open across two years, notes taken leisurely across that entire period. Bold notes taken beneath the shoulder, regular notes taken further into the bottle past the halfway point.
Nose: extremely clean peat smoke, rhubarb pie in a coal-fired oven, white pound cake with lemon icing, the best New York cheesecake ever, nectarines and cream, graham cracker crust, the cheesecake note just explodes out of the glass, especially with a drop or two of water.
Palate: very oily and rich ~ lots of red berries, juniper, the hot coals of a sauna, complex herbs, earth, pine sap, charred rhubarb, pillow mints.
Finish: ages ~ waves of peat smoke, cream, cool mint, pipe tobacco, cereal grains, hints of char and cheesecake come through after a while.
Conclusion: This is an extraordinary experience in a glass. Not a lot of individual notes, but what’s there is immensely complex, engaging, complementary, and leaves me leaning back in my seat to take in every sip. The cheesecake absolutely sells this for me, set perfectly in place by the smoky and herbal notes and just a touch of fruit here and there. I savored this bottle for quite a while, wanting it to last and not wanting to take it for granted. Spending time with it also transformed how I think and feel about age in whisky, paving the way for me to seek out recent distilleries like Ardnamurchan and Raasay that are bottling young quality whiskies in good casks. I don’t know if I’ll buy another Octomore in the future, but I’m really glad to have spent some time with this one.
Final Score: 95.
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 