Octomore 6.1

While I’ve been fortunate enough to come across an occasional not absurdly priced Octomore at a bar or as a sample, this was the first bottle I bought. It was pretty well priced, though not on the shelf when I went there. They had to check in the back/upstairs, and took a while doing so, so I really appreciated that.

Octomore 6.1, Islay Single Malt, 57% ABV

Minutia: Made from Scottish barley, peated to 167ppm, aged 5 years in American Oak ex-Bourbon casks. Enjoyed neat in a glencairn.

Color: Burnished, 1.1.

Nose: Strong but light smoke, funk, maritime quality, a bit floral.

Taste: Intense sealike smoke, pepper.

Finish: Smoky, delightfully savory, warms up a bit, fades over long finish.

This is such a great dram to really take your time and savor. The less you are doing in addition to drinking it, the better. It’s not earth shattering, and it isn’t really an everyday thing, but I will be sad when it’s gone. 

Score: 87

2019 Advent #24 - Ledaig 12 Present Future

I’ve become a massive fan of Ledaig since trying the 10, so it’s fitting this is the closer of the 2019 Advent project. The spirit they make is so good, as long as the price is right I’d pretty much buy anything they made without checking reviews and I’d recommend it to just about anyone who isn’t allergic to anything in it. I’ve not yet had a Sherried Ledaig, and even though I speculatively bought this before knowing how I felt about Ledaig I am eager to try it.

Ledaig 12 Present Future, Mull Single Malt, 58.4% ABV

Minutia: Distilled in 2005 and bottled by The Whisky Exchange for the Whisky Show 2018. Matured in a Sherry butt. This is meant to represent a style of whisky coming into favor now and where whisky is trending in the immediate future. Enjoyed neat in a glencairn.

Color: Brown Sherry, 1.9.

Nose: Definite smoke and fruit, some funk.

Taste: Fruity malt, some smoke, big heat.

Finish: Smoke and funk jump out. The heat wobbles in intensity as it all fades over a long finish.

Guess: This was the last in the pool so I knew what it was going in, thus the “blind” in quotes in the title. Next year I’ll be selecting 24 from a pool of n>24 and not looking at what doesn’t get selected to allow all to be done blindly.

I am very disappointed this isn’t really available anymore. Holy smokes is this good. While having this I was thinking it’s what I wanted Bunnahabhain 12 to be, if it had the smoky element this does I’d have liked it a ton more. That has me looking more forward to their peated stuff. This also has me excited that I pulled the trigger on a similarly aged IB Ledaig that was also Sherried and can’t open that soon enough. Can they make anything bad? I’ll keep buying until I find out, but I suspect I won’t ever find it.

Score: 93

Here are links to the other posts from this calendar:

2019 Advent #23 - Bowmore 9 Sherry Cask

I like Islay and Bowmore so this is definitely something I’m glad to try, but the age and ABV strike me as weird. Maybe the youth of the spirit makes it brash enough to be flavorful? The proof didn’t strike me any particular way when I started trying to try and enjoy as much whisky as I could, but with some experience under my belt I’m glad to be doing this blind to avoid any bias about that.

Bowmore 9 Sherry Cask, Islay Single Malt, 40% ABV

Minutia: Matured in ex-Bourbon and ex-Sherry casks. Enjoyed neat in a glencairn.

Color: Old oak, 1.8.

Nose: Lightly fruity malt. Really nice fresh green apple after a bit. The apple bit saved the nose.

Taste: Vaguely fruity smoke, fairly thin, some heat but little.

Finish: Caramel, some smoke.

Guess: Bowmore 9 Sherry Cask.

As far as guessing, it was this or a Sherried Ledaig, and it sure was no Ledaig. There’s nothing really wrong with it, certainly nothing off-putting, but this is a pricy bottle relative to what it offers. A bit more alcohol and this could be a pretty heavy hitter. To its credit, this is a very easy drinker and a solid choice if you’re looking for something light and enjoy smoke and/or Sherry flavors.

Score: 80

Here are links to the other posts from this calendar:

2019 Advent #22 - Ardbeg An Oa

I’ve liked the Ardbeg I’ve tried so far and I’m interested in trying the newer NAS expression that’s regular and a bit less expensive than Uigeadail and Corryvreckan. Fortunately we live in a time when certain companies sell samples so you don’t have to find them at a bar or take a risk on a bottle.

Ardbeg An Oa, Islay Single Malt, 46.6% ABV

Minutia: The whisky in this expression comes from a variety of casks including: Pedro Ximenez Sherry, virgin charred oak, and ex-Bourbon casks. There are others involved but they are not mentioned in Ardbeg’s description. It’s vatted in a French Oak vat before bottling. Enjoyed neat in a glencairn.

Color: Amontillado Sherry, .9.

Nose: Smoky, vegetal. Winey fruit

Taste: Thin, minor heat. Weak.

Finish: Big smoke and pepper. Meaty. Medium.

Guess: Ardbeg An Oa.

This nose was too easy to guess with just 3 options remaining. I’m very surprised at the thin mouthfeel on this. Perhaps I’ve been drinking too much above 55% lately. The finish is very good and really helped this score. The taste was pretty weak, but I’ll be giving this a chance as a bottle to see if that’s consistent.

Score: 85

Here are links to the other posts from this calendar:

2019 Advent #21 - Bowmore 26 Vintner's Trilogy No. II

This is one of the more exciting ones in the calendar I created. My scores of whisky that spent more time in wine casks than just a finishing have been quite high, and this is pretty hard to come by so I’m glad I was ordering when a sample was available.

Bowmore 26 Vintner’s Trilogy No. 2, Islay Single Malt, 48.7% ABV

Minutia: Matured for 13 years in ex-Bourbon barrels then transferred to former wine barriques for another 13 years.

Color: Brown Sherry, 1.9.

Nose: Fruity, floral smoke. Malty, nutty.

Taste: Thin, smoke, bit of heat builds slowly, as does fruit. The fruit doesn’t build so much as a weirdish flavor shifts into fruit over time.

Finish: Malty, nice smokiness and slight heat and must. Medium, with an intensity on the medium-short side.

Guess: Bowmore 9 Sherry cask.

With the 4 options left, I knew this was a Bowmore, but it was tough to say what. Was it so dark because of how old it was and how much time it was in a wine cask, or was it young and overly colored? Was it thin because it was 40%, or because age had reduced and tempered the ethanol? It was mostly a toss-up, but I guessed the younger one due to the mouthfeel. This is pretty good, but a bit weird, and that’s not necessarily a bad thing. Not quite worth what it costs, though. Maybe at MSRP, whatever that was, but not aftermarket prices if they’re far above normal shelf price. Historically, I’ve really enjoyed wine casks, so I’m a bit surprised this one didn’t wow me, but it did perform a bit better than Bowmore’s 25 and is about the same age, so that lines up a bit. I think I’d have scored this higher if I knew what it was, so I’m glad this was in the blind group.

Score: 82

Here are links to the other posts from this calendar: