Octomore 06.1/167 Scottish Barley

Very peated and very expensive taste.

Seriously wow! Super peated, caramelic and sweet. Complex

6.1 is probably the introductory Octomore. It is the cheapest (I purchased my bottle for $136) and most easily found. Caviar analogy: if Islay whiskies are fish eggs, Octomores are from the sturgeon, and the Octomore x.3 is the Beluga sturgeon; if you only have the funds to splurge on one bottle, you may as well go for the 6.3 or the 7.3, which are in the $200-250 range. Octomore 6.1 is solid, but a mere gateway to an expensive and heavenly range. NOSE: Sweetness, smoke, and brine in perfect balance! It is glued together by a rich buttery oiliness. This is what Corryvreckan wants to be. It literally smells like caviar. Campfire embers and gasoline are in the background. This is a tamed 167 phenols. The numbers are a gimmick, and are probably measured right after malting. It does not reflect the smokiness of the distillate. TASTE: The peat explodes. Bruichladdich believes in terroir, and it shows in their Octomore. Strong heathery, earthy flavors. There is smokiness, but also there is a taste of unsmoked soil. A good youthful profile of fresh barley and lemon zest emerges and lingers into a long finish. A long chestwarming feeling and aftertaste of hydrocarbons make you feel like you can light candles with your breath. WITH WATER: Nose gets sweeter and fruitier. Caviar and grape jam. Palate loses the explosion of peat, but you get more subtlety and iodine on the arrival, with a drying earthy ash taking over after a few seconds. VERDICT: Octomore publicity is based on extreme phenol levels and an “I-dare-you” variety of word-of-mouth. It is actually as sophisticated and luxurious as an Islay whisky gets, with so much more to offer than a proverbial peat-punch to the face. MARK: 94/100.

WOW, I think I just grew chest hair! Really good stuff here, with notes of honey and lemon zest on the nose. The palate is herbaceous and slightly sweet, with an obviously generous dose of smoke. On the finish, there's a nice touch of bitterness akin to dark chocolate that lasts for minutes on end, coupled with wood spices that needs water to tame down. Great stuff.