Octomore 11.2

 

I saw that this was available from the distillery shop, and since they actually ship to the US, I ordered this when it was a website exclusive rather than travel retail due to the pandemic. It was an easy decision knowing how I feel about both peat and wine casks.

Octomore 11.2, Islay Single Malt, 58.6% ABV

Minutia: Distilled in winter 2014 from the 2013 harvest of 100% Scottish grown concerto and propino barley. 25% was matured for 5 years on Islay in ex-red wine casks from the Pauillac region of France. 75% was matured on Islay in ex-American whiskey casks and finished an for 18 months in ex-red wine casks from the St Julien region of France totaling 5 years. Enjoyed neat in a glencairn.

Color: Tawny; 1.4.

Nose: Red fruit, apples, tobacco, leather. Barbecue. All of it: the sauce, the air, the meat, you name it.

Taste: Nice texture. Smoky and spicy barbecue sauce. Not one that’s both, but a spicy sauce and a sweet sauce together. Salty.

Finish: Smoke, red fruit. Woody, dry. Long.

Awesome all around, a classic Octomore.

Score: 93

Musical Evocation: Woods of Ypres – “Wet Leather”

SMWS Ledaig 9/12/13 2008 Sister Cask Side by Side: 42.43 “Smoky spicy red rye ale”, 42.44 “Winter warmer”, 42.53 “Mull me(n)tal”, 42.60 “Sensationally sensual”, & 42.63 “Thirst aid kit”

 

The SMWS has recently had a fair amount of casks from Ledaig coming out recently, and I happened to have a couple others from years ago from the same distillation, so I decided to do the five of them side by side.

Ledaig 9, 2008 Vintage, Scotch Malt Whisky Society 42.43, Island (Mull) Single Malt, 59.7% ABV

Minutia: Distilled on February 21, 2008 and matured in an ex-bourbon hogshead for 9 years and finished in a 1st-fill wine barrique charred and refitted with heavily toasted lids yielding 302 bottles. This is part of the Peated flavor profile named “Smoky spicy red rye ale”. Enjoyed side by side with its sister casks 42.44, 42.53, 42.60, & 42.63.

Color: Tawny; 1.4.8

Nose: Burnty, musty, meat.

Taste: Smoky bacon, spiced fruit.

Finish: Smoky, a fruity wave of flavor right after swallowing, smoky toffee. Long.

Really awesome finish, very long. Overall a great dram.

Score: 92

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Ledaig 9, 2008 Vintage, Scotch Malt Whisky Society 42.44, Island (Mull) Single Malt, 58.5% ABV

Minutia: Distilled on February 21, 2008 and matured in a refill ex-bourbon hogshead for 9 years yielding 232 bottles. This is part of the Peated flavor profile named “Winter warmer”. Enjoyed side by side with its sister casks 42.43, 42.53, 42.60, & 42.63.

Color: Deep gold; 0.8.

Nose: Salty smoke, seafood. Industrial.

Taste: Custard, industrial and earthy.

Finish: Smoke, toffee (very crispy/almost burnt), burnt. Long.

A very interesting and fun dram. I did not expect something as light as custard to come in here, but it did.

Score: 87

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Ledaig 12, 2008 Vintage, Scotch Malt Whisky Society 42.53, Island (Mull) Single Malt, 60.2% ABV

Minutia: Distilled on February 21, 2008 and matured in a refill ex-bourbon hogshead for 12 years yielding 303 bottles. This is part of the Peated flavor profile named “Mull me(n)tal”. Enjoyed side by side with its sister casks 42.43, 42.44, 42.60, & 42.63.

Color: Jonquil, ripe corn; 0.4.

Nose: Salty smoked meat.

Taste: Some sweet; bitter vegetation; burny.

Finish: Salt, smoked meat. Long.

A solid dram with a very powerful finish.

Score: 86

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Ledaig 12, 2008 Vintage, Scotch Malt Whisky Society 42.60, Island (Mull) Single Malt, 59.4% ABV

Minutia: Distilled on February 21, 2008 and matured in a refill ex-bourbon hogshead for 12 years yielding 162 bottles. This is part of the Peated flavor profile named “Sensationally sensual”. Enjoyed side by side with its sister casks 42.43, 42.44, 42.53, & 42.63.

Color: Pale gold; 0.3.

Nose: It took a while to figure out what it was, and it was tough to do without consider what it was like relative to the changes in the nose. It went from grilled seafood to beachy tar to light smoked fruit. Really interesting.

Taste: Light fruit. Peppery malt. Spice.

Finish: Light smoke and malt after a peppery start. Long.

For something like a Ledaig, this was surprisingly delicate, and a fun dram to have.

Score: 87

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Ledaig 13, 2008 Vintage, Scotch Malt Whisky Society 42.63, Island (Mull) Single Malt, 58.3% ABV

Minutia: Distilled on February 21, 2008 and matured in a refill ex-bourbon hogshead for 13 years yielding 164 bottles. This is part of the Peated flavor profile named “Thirst aid kit”. Enjoyed side by side with its sister casks 42.43, 42.44, 42.53, & 42.60.

Color: Pale straw; 0.2.

Nose: Seaside factory, petrichor.

Taste: Green wood, smoked cream (?), a beachy factory.

Finish: Funky, rice pudding, salty.

A really nice one, with a very interesting rice pudding kind of note early in the finish that’s hard to find again.

Score: 90

This was a really fun sister cask side by side. They are all squarely there own thing, but collectively can be accurately described as just really dirty. If you like that profile, any of these will not disappoint. Really interesting how the color got lighter as the age went up, and the ABV wasn’t going slightly downward, either.

Glen Scotia 13 2006 SMWS 93.117 “Asian coastal delights”

I bought this at one of the preview tastings a while ago, and I’m glad I did because I don’t remember seeing it make it to the shop.

Glen Scotia 13, 2006 Vintage, Scotch Malt Whisky Society 93.117, Campbeltown Single Malt, 60.3% ABV

Minutia: Distilled on March 6, 2006 and matured in a 1st-fill bourbon barrel for 13 years yielding 154 bottles. This is part of the Oily & Coastal flavor profile named “Asian coastal delights”. Enjoyed neat in a glencairn.

Color: Russet, Muscat; 1.3.

Nose: Dark fruit, musty, molasses, bourbon.

Taste: Zesty. And I actually felt like the silly notes were pretty good here, specifically salt and vinegar almonds and duck stir fry. A sweetness to it.

Finish: Maltiness, spice, salinity. Medium-long.

Quite tasty, the fruitiness was nice. A lot of “bourbon” feel to this one; the 1st fill cask was apparent.

Score: 87

Musical Evocation: 閃靈 (Chthonic) – 破夜斬 “Supreme Pain for the Tyrant”

Talisker 8 Cask Strength Rum Finish 2020 Special Release

 

I was really intrigued by this when it was announced. The 8 year old from a couple years prior was stellar, and the rum finish was something I was interested in trying. Anyway, finally got around to reviewing it so here it is.

Talisker 8 Cask Strength Rum Finish 2020 Special Release, Island (Skye) Single Malt, 57.9% ABV

Minutia: Matured for 8 years with a finish in Caribbean rum casks. Enjoyed neat in a glencairn.

Color: Amber; 0.7.

Nose: Green smoke, briny. Salty toffee. Seaweed.

Taste: Salty, young wood, salted toffee.

Finish: Earthy, spice, salty.

It’s nice, but simple. Not in a bad way, but also not in the way that it does one thing incredibly well. It felt like it would be better with more age. Fans of Talisker’s profile will like it well enough, but it doesn’t come close to the 8 year old from 2018.

Score: 82

Musical Evocation: Jinjer – “Judgement (& Punishment)”

Glengoolie Blue 2022 (Ardbeg Day Solera Bottle)

Well, last year I posted a review of this as it was then, and people really seemed to enjoy it, so I figure I’ll keep doing it. Everything’s the same as last year except 50ml of Scorch was added and left to marry for a year. Next year, Ardcore will have been marrying with this for a year and so on.

Ardbeg Day Solera Bottle, Glengoolie Blue 2022, Islay Single Malt, 48.5% ABV

Minutia: A vatting of approximately 50ml of every Ardbeg Day release from Alligator through Scorch, with about a year in the bottle. ABV is calculated based on the components and their respective ABVs. Enjoyed neat in a glencairn.

Color: Deep copper; 1.0.

Nose: Smoke, dark red fruit, molasses, feinty, chocolate berry goop candies.

Taste: Oaky, earthy. A touch of fruity must.

Finish: Woody, smoky, coffee.

Nice, looks like the Scorch really lifted this up. Mostly in the nose as now I find a really pleasant, rich fruitiness that generally I find from things like Sherried Ardbeg or Laphroaig, even Longrow. It’s bleeding a bit into the palate, but most of the change was on the nose. The finish also improved, with a rather pleasant overall bitter feel.

Score: 85

Ardbeg Ardcore

 

Unfortunately I didn’t have this up in time for Ardbeg Day, when I usually like to post these, but I did manage to get it pretty close to then, so here we go. Unfortunately this was much harder to get ahold of (and more expensive) than in years past, but hopefully by next year the undue hype and shipping and stuff will have died down enough where I can get it on release (spoiler: it won’t). Anyway…

Ardbeg Ardcore, Islay Single Malt, 46% ABV

Minutia: Distilled from a mash of heavily roasted black barley. Aged some amount of time in some casks. Enjoyed neat in a glencairn.

Color: Pale gold; 0.3.

Nose: Peaty, earthy, green, lemongrass, woody, coffee grounds. Overall pretty dirty.

Taste: Ashy, earthy, some bitterness, industrial, coffee grounds.

Finish: Smoke, ash, smoky chocolate. Wood. Medium-short.

The taste is just alright, the nose and moreso the finish I quite like, despite its length. Nothing close to what they charge for it, but overall a fine expression and would fit in well with the main range if priced like them.

Score: 84

Musical Evocation: Darkthrone – “Whisky Funeral”