After having covid, my whisky consumption – and thus capacity for reviews – declined somewhat (in part due to taste/smell implications) so it’s been a bit since I’ve posted a reivew, but I’ve gotten to this one (expect a few reviews in pretty quick succession prior to starting my Advent calendar in December). I think this was the second Octomore I bought a couple years ago after reading some really great things. Between that time and opening it I’ve had the pleasure of enjoying a handful of them, and thus far the floor for an Octomore has been pretty high, but so has the ceiling. I’m wondering where this falls as I’ve been looking forward to it for a long time.
Minutia: Distilled in 2010 from grain harvested from a single field, malted to 169 ppm. Matured on Islay for five years in ex-bourbon casks and Ribera del Duero Spanish wine casks and bottled in late 2015. Enjoyed neat in a glencairn.
Color: Burnished; 1.1.
Nose: Smoke with a nutty, malty sweetness. Homemade popcorn.
Taste: Sweetness in the tropical area, chili spice. Green wood and smoke.
Finish: Dry, woody smoke. Bitter coffee. Long.
It’s quite good, and I enjoy it, but the palate is a bit too bitter for it to be a homerun for me. The nose is much nicer than the limited specific notes mentioned above would suggest, that would fall in the 90s with the palate elements in the mid to high 80s. On the lower end of Octomores for me, if you can believe it, but I’ve had some that were just tremendous so it’s a tough act to follow (7.2, 9.3, and 10.3 come to mind).
Score: 88
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