Octomore 12.2

Unbelievable exoerience with this one! Everything in this whisky speaks PREMIUM! On the nose, there’s a big charred oak, peaty aroma, but it comes together with a floral element, orange peel jam with a milk chocolate infused in it. But much more can come from it after as you keep seeping it. On the palate, it’s delightfully smoky, some notes of applewood smoked bacon, the orange peel is present and floral notes will show up in the end. The finish is extremely long and pleasant. Such an amazing dram! I can’t give it a smaller score than 5. Awesome!

Unbelievable exoerience with this one! Everything in this whisky speaks PREMIUM! On the nose, there’s a big charred oak, peaty aroma, but it comes together with a floral element, orange peel jam with a milk chocolate infused in it. But much more can come from it after as you keep seeping it. On the palate, it’s delightfully smoky, some notes of applewood smoked bacon, the orange peel is present and floral notes will show up in the end. The finish is extremely long and pleasant. Such an amazing dram! I can’t give it a smaller score than 5. Awesome!

Nose: Initially the nose is all wood smoke, brine and lemon zest but after extended nosing I got winey notes and a honey fragrance, which is the most obvious sauternes influence. The nose is pungent but also soft and plush and over time the peat aroma gains complexity with coal tar and earthy peat joining the wood smoke. Water reveals aromas of yeasty dough and a little plastic/rubber but the sweet honeyed notes provide enough balance to maintain a pleasant overall character. Palate: The arrival is sweet, rich and has a dense unctuous texture. The peat is fully in command here but it rides atop waves of luxurious caramel, dessert wine, apricots, honey, creosote and pickle water. There is a prickly sensation of white pepper in the late palate. Reduction simplifies and melds the palate with tarry peat and camphor gaining prominence while the texture becomes more silken, and the pepper note is diminished. Finish: Long. Peat smoke, grilled oysters with lemon, salt and pepper. Reduction brings sweetness. Adding water louches a lot of oil from this spirit with a strong misty haze forming almost immediately, and the whisky continues to gain cloudiness over time. It’s worth giving it a long rest after reduction as the nose and palate both transform a good deal over time. Initially water seems to just tame the spirit but the more time you give it the more complexity you will notice. It’s debatable whether the punchiness and purity of the neat pour is superior to the balance and complexity of the reduced form, but both are very pleasant. Overall I liked this Octomore, but it’s a whisky marque I tend to like most of the time anyway. This is certainly not the best Octomore I’ve tried but it’s far from the least enjoyable. I’ve been tasting Octomore since it was introduced and my broad impression is that it was stunning in the early days (say up to the 8th editions) but then hit a bit of a decline, however since edition 12 it has been steadily improving. The recent 14th and 15th editions are excellent and although the 12th edition whiskies were not quite up there yet they are all worth a taste. “Very Good” : 86/100 (4 stars)

Nose: peanut butter, peat, smoke, hot burning fire, mossy, damp earth, honey heather, bandaids, Palate: smoke, hot bonfire, high charcoal flavour, Finish super long, charcoal,