Okay, I was toiling for a very long time over whether or not to plunk down the cash for one of Bruichladdich's monstrous-sounding Octomore whiskies. Just ask Scotch Friend from work! I finally did it and, man, what a totally outrageous experience this is!
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| Click to enlarge. The mighty Octomore. I tried to capture the spirit in the glass to show how pale it looks. Looks can be deceiving. |
Color: pale straw. Surprisingly pale given the huge 167ppm phenols this Octomore has (enlarge the picture to better see the whisky in the glass since I did such a cheap pour!).
Nose: smoke and menthol on the nose. Nose a little more and wow the smoke is quite sweet (maybe even gentle given the 62.5% alcohol). As I continue to smell I almost get something like After-8 mints or Junior mints on the nose... chocolate and mint. Walk away and come back and there is massive smoke and salt. You can tell this is going to be a totally new experience! Are there some dates on the nose? Maybe. As it continues to open we get swirling smoke and chocolate and caramel - smoke turns around caramel and chocolate and salt. Wow! Must taste.
Palate: Like a creamy caramel candy with a freakin' monstrous smokey brushfire inside! Wow! Serious heat there that goes right to the back of your neck and really warms. Taste more and there really is chocolate in there - sweet and creamy milk chocolate - like a Caramilk bar on fire! ha ha! This drink is an absolute peat bomb. A rocket. A monster! However, so much complexity is there that is so nice. Some salt in here too. Surprisingly easy to drink for the 62.5% abv.!
(Add a few drops of water) - seems to get a bit of a lemon-lime note and the coastal salt air seems to come forward a bit more. This whisky gives a real picture in my head. The picture is of a salted caramel shell with a smokey peat bomb inside.
(Add a few more drops of water) - more water seems to take some of the punch away and soften the bomb affect to a lovely mix of the flavours described above. Still really warming with heat on the finish. Some ash in the finish. Man, what a wicked dram for a humid, cold day like the one I am tasting this on! The sweet-salty-smokey caramel leads in to a menthol-smoke. Seems to get sweeter and less punchy with more and more water. Gets creamier too.
Finish: the finish keeps going and going and going as you keep chewing away. Maybe the longest finishing whisky I've had. Crazy that this is only 5 years old! The finish goes from smokey with the other discussed flavours mixed in to a nice warm heat in your chest. Of note was that I drank this in the late evening and was still tasting it when I was laying in bed. That was a really good way to fall asleep!
Last thoughts: This dram stands on its own as an amazing desert and just begs you to take a long time to sip and enjoy! Its a real journey! Truly like nothing else. I think this is the most incredible drink I've ever had. A game changer and totally worth the money. A real experience. What quality and artisanal care in this!
Go and enjoy it. This is how a person can spoil themselves!
P.S. I recall Jim Murray describing this one as "Choctomore" due to the big chocolate notes and I can agree with that.
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