Tastes

Very punchy. Honey peppered thick cut bacon. Cigar smoke and ash. Excellent, but not for the faint of heart.

Creamy, sweet, fruity, malty. Honey and some allspice. Apple and pears. Full bodied. A scotch every type of scotch drinker would enjoy. Complex but approachable. I think I would use this to introduce scotch to a newbie…and still love drinking the dram myself. Didn’t understand the low scores on this, but the pro review was years ago —- they’ve clearly done much over the years to improve.

Rich. Rich. Rich. Loads of dark fruit sherry sweetness, but also rather bitter. Almost like taking a traditional English ESB and boiling it down to a sweet syrup. Loooong finish with all the same bittersweet notes, then some dark cherry similar to the front palate on a Four Roses bourbon. Going to find and buy another bottle right now.

Vanilla frosted lemon pound cake, with a little bit of sea salt sprinkled into the frosting. Rich and coating mouthfeel - almost gritty. Very nice. Tried again against the 2010 Organic and Classic Laddie…was the darkest flavor profile of the three, with more brown sugar and darker fruit notes.

Nose: very pleasant. Sherry sweetness. Salted caramel. Faintest hint of smoke. Palate: sweet arrival. Salted caramel popcorn. Smoke hits mid-palate and finishes with some sweet red fruits and damp earth. For the money, I have yet to find a better everyday sipper.

Nose: Highly aromatic. Smoke, vanilla, floral. Palate: initially sweet vanillas and caramels. Some herbal character - black pepper, licorice. Mid palate introduces briney smokiness. Finish is medium long with more creamy vanilla and smoky goodness. Exceptional. Near the bottom of the bottle now, and it’s all a smoky coconut and lemon cream pie. Creamy and delicious. Ran head to head and beat Laphroaig 10, Ardbeg 10, and Lagavulin 16.

Sweet, salty, sour, funky, good amounts of peat. Very similar to Springbank 18, but prefer this with its extra peat punch. Best with a splash of water and 30 mins in the glass.

Sweet, salty, sour, funky, wiffs of peat. Only slightly prefer the Longrow 18 with its extra peat punch. Best with a splash of water and 30 mins in the glass.

BBQ ribs. Full bodied. Smoky. Sweet. Delicious. In no way drinks like a 60% whisky. My first octomore, and I’m blown away.

Needs significant time to open up. But when it does, very tasty. Lots of red fruits, very sweet. Fruitcake. Pecan pie. Rich palate but short finish. Definitely a dessert dram. However, for 1/3 the price, find Nikka from the Barrel. Has much of the same complexity, and a higher proof for more initial flavor on the palate.