Octomore Series 15 Tasting, The Oak Barrel, Sydney. November 13, 2024. Whisky #3 Nose: Vanilla, a little hay and honey, lots of sweet floral aromas, grilled pineapple, red berries. It’s a spirity nose with the alcohol strength brazenly displayed. A good dash of water is required to reach the point where the “alcohol nip” is dispelled but with watering some faint plastic notes are also revealed. Palate: Sweet chilli, honeyed cereal flakes, soft sweet ash. Tropical fruits in the development together with vanilla cream and lime pie. Adding water develops both white pepper and lemon oil flavours and a greater volume of smoke is apparent. It also makes the palate simultaneously spritzier and oliler. Although this palate is a little tight the texture is good. Finish: Medium. Fruit, vanilla and ash. We tasted this immediately after a pour of the 14.1 expression from last year and there was a definite similarity between the two whiskies. Both have a crisp, sweet character with a pleasingly open profile, and although this expression was tighter it seemed to me more elegant. This is very much Octomore with no embellishment and it stands up well to scrutiny. For many folks this is the way they prefer their Octomore but personally I find it just a fraction austere. Beautiful, but aloof. There is an alcohol prickle on the nose and you need to reduce the whisky to nose it deeply. Water develops ginger and a touch of white pepper on the palate and this extends into the finish. It also brings a little sourness to the finish and as much as I appreciated the reduced form I think the balance was better when neat. I’m giving this the same rating I gave the 14.1 expression this time round. They have a lot in common but if I had to choose between the two I’d take this one. “Good” : 84/100 (3.75 stars)