When I first started experimenting with non-bourbon/American whiskey earlier this summer my chaperone of all things scotch/Irish/everything else said he had tried an Octomore downtown Chicago with some work friends and deemed it “undrinkable”. I am not sure which edition it was but as my first scotch being Lagavulin 16 and loving it I knew I wanted to reach for an Octomore at some point in my whisky journey. After purchasing this bottle I finally had an opportunity to try it with a group of friends I knew would actually appreciate a mighty Octomore. On first nose and tasting I, as well as my friends, would have assumed we were drinking a bourbon as it was super sweet with little to no peat at all with a definite alcohol burn. I was honestly extremely disappointed as my friend who had tried one prior said this was nothing compared to the monster he tried downtown Chicago. So I took the bottle home and forgot about it until recently. I offered my roommate a dram telling him this tasted like a bourbon and his reaction after a sip was something I really, really wish I had on camera. This was my long way of saying this bottle needs some oxidation before the peat is unleashed. But holy hell, I didn’t know a liquid was capable of the sensations I experienced trying this for the second time. I don’t know if a liquid has ever elicited a fight or flight response out of anyone else other than myself but this triggered that magnitude of a reaction. After calming down and profusely apologizing to my roommate I began to hunt for nosing and tasting notes. The nose is a sweet peat with unmistakable barbeque qualities. Digging below the initial punch I got chocolate, woodsy evergreen sap, and orange. It reminded me of a Ghirardelli brownie mixed with orange flavored oil while baking. I put a cover on the Glencarin for about 20 minutes and after taking a large sniff, for a few moments, I felt like the person in the movies who passes out from the chloroform rag. Tread carefully. The palate is on a level of peat I had yet to experience which really threw me for a loop, not in a bad way, just a challenging way. I would classify this as an ashy smoke as opposed to campfire. The whisky has a spice note to it which I would image is from the new oak. I got some very faint citrus after letting the whisky sit for about 20 minutes. This whisky is the most challenging I have experienced yet. I don’t mean “hard to drink” (although it may be for some) I mean there are definitely notes I am missing here and look forward continuing the experience of the 7.4 Virgin Oak. I will definitely update as I progress through the bottle to present what else may be present. I would not recommend purchasing unless you already love big peat. If you do love big peat this will push your senses to their limits which in my opinion is a ton of fun! 4/5 for now. I feel there are more nuances than what I am finding now but I cannot fault the whisky for me not picking up on them. Will revise once bottle is empty. 4/5 out of sheer ability to acomplish the largest "wow" factor I have had to date.