PBMichiganWolverine
Octomore Masterclass 08.3/309 Islay Barley
Single Malt — Islay, Scotland
Reviewed
April 26, 2018 (edited August 30, 2018)
So here I am in an Orlando hotel room, laptop open working on a presentation deck, spicy Thai food for dinner, and —sin of all sins—-this beauty in a plastic cup. It so deserved a proper glass...the plastic cup was just plain wrong. But..that’s all I had. Even though this has silly phenol levels (309ppm), I still contend that ppm doesn’t necessarily equate to an equally hard peaty punch. This has plenty...that’s not the point...but it doesn’t feel any more considering it’s maybe over double or triple of No Name and even 6x or 7x so more than a Lag16. It doesn’t taste 7x “peatier’ than the Lag16. That’s because chemically, the human nose starts to exponentially discern phenol levels less after 60ppm or so. Instead, the nose will start to take in other aromas after that point. It’s a simple evolutionary mechanism. There’s really no natural reason to have that high sense of smell beyond 60ppm. So, is taking anything above 60-100ppm a simple marketing gimmick, considering humans can’t sense anything above that range? Yeah. Probably. So...that brings us to this. It won’t smell or taste any peatier than a Lag16 or Ardbeg 10, but it’ll bring other flavors and aromas to table instead. While you get the bandaids in Laphroaig or brine and salt in Lagavulin or smoky embers in Ardbeg, this brings a bit of fruitier flavors. You get some tropical fruit combimed with that initial peaty taste. This is good. Actually, damn good. But...don’t go in expecting you’ll get a big peaty punch. Your nose and palette simply isn’t evolved enough to notice.
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Ah interesting, great review. As an aside I do find my whiskey taste buds get seriously stuffed with spicy foods but I guess with an intense dram like this it really would overcome any spice impact!
@PBMichiganWolverine - Excellent, thanks! Next time, don’t make me wait so long. :)
@Rick_M. Nope...not an opinion. The “is it a marketing gimmick “ is an opinion. But not the nasal part. My background as a 20 yr old working in Pfizer labs’ mass spec and gas chromatography comes in there. The range varies based on genetics, and environment...but no matter what, our noses are far inferior to other species. It’ll simply get overwhelmed after a certain concentration, and we won’t be able to tell the difference. It’s similar to having hot peppers. You can tell the difference between a poblano pepper and jalapeño ( 1000 scoville vs 3000 or so). But you won’t be able to tell the difference between a ghost pepper and Carolina reaper ( 1M and 2M scovilles). Your tongue’s sensory receptors would be overwhelmed.
@PBMichiganWolverine - I’ve been waiting for you to chime in on this subject for a long time. :) Is this a known fact based on your chemistry background, or are you expressing an opinion. Either way it’s great information!
@cascode that’s interesting...I didn’t feel that, probably because I was having spicy Thai at the same time. But, I can see...so I’m gonna venture a guess that it’s because there’s more molecules of phenols, which means it’s still lingering around.
The difference I notice between 40ppm and 300ppm is not in intensity but in the length - a 40 fades moderately whereas I'm still tasting a 300 hours later.
Orlando,.. plastic cups… yikes. Nice review thought.