Bruichladdich Masterclass, The Oak Barrel, Sydney, 19 February 2018, Whisky #4 Nose: Softly smoky at first, like all Octomore, but a little more ashy than usual. Gentle old oak and a definite iodine note with some lemon zest and barley sugar, but no maritime brine. Resin or eucalyptus - something sharply oily and aromatic. With water there's a solvent and nutty aroma but it remains an oddly cold and austere nose. Palate: Spicy, oaky and astringent out of the gate. Grassy, but not herbal - just grassy. There's also a lemon-drop lolly flavour, almost like synthetic lemon. Big smoke starts to evolve with each sip and the essential watering brings out some more lemon and nuts. Good texture. Finish: A long, dry and slightly nutty end with the predictable smoke. Predictable - that's the word. What a terrible thing to have to say about any whisky, but that's how I call it. Not one of the most interesting I've tasted - almost as spirit driven as a can of gasoline. I prefer Port Charlotte to Octomore and that may be the issue here, because I tasted this immediately after the lovely Port Charlotte Islay Barley. It would be interesting to sample this in isolation, but I'm not buying a bottle just to do that. Anyway, the bride of Frankenstein always appealed to me more than the monster himself. "Good" : 84/100 (3.75 stars)