Tastes

This is my 3rd Octomore after the 7.1 and 8.1 and I'd say so far none have blown me away that much, but then again I would say that about most of Bruichladdichs offerings bar Port Charlotte 10 and Black Art. This is my least favorite Octomore so far. If you like lemony citrus peat profile you'll love this, me not so much. Limited bitter aftertaste. 3.5 at a push. If you added price into the equation it'd fall lower. 8.1, 7.1 and 8.4 would be the ordering for me.

This is the 8th Kavalan I've tried and 4th Solist and I'd rate it number 2 overall behind the Solist Sherry cask. Once given time a water it turns into a great dram. Burnt strawberries, prunes, cherry and more dark stone fruits. The finish is slightly drying and tart almost. I like it but wouldn't buy a bottle at even a 1/3rd the price. I'd love to try the Solist Manzanilla, Moscatel and Amontillado one day but based on my experience with Kavalan to date I wouldn't feel confident purchasing a whole bottle and knowing I'd like drinking all of it.

A pretty flawless whiskey... although that doesn't come with a dose of excitement. I'd like to try this at 46% and luckily for me I have samples from that abv to cask strength buried in my cupboard so stay tuned for those reviews. Creme brulee, butterscotch and more...very very drinkable but I think I'd get bored of this if i had a bottle...and there is the price...

Man this whiskey has come a long way from when I first tried it and it was rough and ready. I was wondering what age would do to its profile and now I know. With the bottle cracked open, no time to breathe or water it's a 4.25..no doubt time and oxygen will improve further but I'll placehold that score for now. Burnt ashy maritime vanilla on the nose. All that transitions to the palate. It almost tastes like the smell of old ashtrays we used to have in bars or drinking something after just inhaling a mild cigarette...in a good way :-). Very well balanced. Ok 20 mins later with water..man this is good. It turns creamy almost. Ok 4.25 to 4.5 it is.

Quick hit review number 4. Nice drop, nothing outstanding. Seemed younger than the age statements but well balanced and lovely aftertaste. Reasonably priced at $65 USD.

No. 3 on the GR tasting range. Fully sherry hit kicks in with this. Nice sherried drop but for $125USD you can do better e.g. Glendronach 18, Glengoyne 21, Bunnahabhain 18 etc etc. Still good to see GR OBs now no longer suck!

No. 2 on the GR tasting range. Similar to the 10 with no lemon notes plus hint of sherry coming in. Solid but unremarkable.

I popped into my local bottle store for a beer and before I knew it I was tasting the new GR range. In summary it's better than their earlier official OBs but that wasn't hard as they were terrible! This I think I liked the most maybe because it's rare that on a school holiday day looking after the kids i get to imbibe in the morning. The kids got a bag of potatoe crisps each and headed back to the car to eat them whilst i made my way through the GR range. Nice simple well priced $40USD drop. Vanilla, lemon etc.

Rugby changing room urinals was my first thought. Those minty smelling things they put in the urinals to make them smell nice. Peppermint, green apple are the strong characteristics with this one. Waxy grass clippings others have noted which I get. I'm not usually a mint person but this strikes the right notes although I couldn't drink loads of this. All in all the ghost drams were a good experience but personally I think there are better examples out there from G&M e.g. St. Magdalene 1975 I had a couple of years ago. Given in 3 samples I just tasted 100 years and $2500USD (on a bottle basis) of drams I personally think you are better off buying loads of modern day classics or even older single cask versions of current day distilleries e.g. Glendronach, Benriach.

I tasted the Brora vs Port Ellen Johnnie Walker Editions head to head last time and the Port Ellen definitely took it. It just had more character more funkiness which I liked. This time round the G&M Editions the Brora came out on top. The character of the PE was still there but it seemed very faded. The Brora however has more substance. Sweet creamy vanilla and a fair bit more (Cascode has it more than covered off!). The casking has been done better on this one. That said however again it didn't blow me away. Very nice dram but not in my top 20% type thing. Nice to have another piece of unblended history. Now onto the Dallas Dhu to finish the ghost trifecta!