The Bruichladdich Distillery has released its latest in the Octomore series, with a trio of whiskies that once again defy traditional whisky wisdom with super-heavily peated single malt whisky that somehow still displays layers, flavours and complexity.
This series is no exception with three whiskies that, when you break down their key components, should not work: the spirit is too young (with the core range consistently bottled at five years old), too strong, and too heavily-peated to have any liquid credibility, but the reality couldn’t be further from the truth.
Bruichladdich Distillery Head Distiller, Adam Hannett, said: “Octomore is an experiment. It is purposely designed to spark intrigue and prove the unimaginable. Based on liquid profile alone this should be a one dimensional, overly-peated Islay single malt Scotch whisky with no depth–but we’ve created the opposite.
“This is a whisky which is layered and complex, there’s nothing else like it. Creating a brand new Octomore series each year which is unique and distinct is a welcomed challenge. It is a moment to pause, reflect, question and keep pushing. Who knows what will come next.”
One aspect of the Octomore range is the peat levels the team come up with and the peat hunters will not be disappointed this time round. While it stops just short of the famous Octomore 8.3, which is still believed to be the world’s most heavily peated whisky at 309 phenol parts per million (PPM), the Octomore 15.3 does come in at 307.2 PPM.
To put this into context, Ardbeg 10, considered a whisky on the higher end of the scale sits at around 55 PPM.
The 15.3 also features locally grown and harvested Islay barley and is bottled at cask strength, 61.3 per cent.
Hannett added: “Our Islay barley works exceptionally well with high phenol levels, and Octomore 15.3 balances intense peat smoke with our cereal forward, malt-sugar spirit.
“The goal is never to intentionally create the most super-heavily peated single malt whisky in the world, but rather an extraordinary dram which demonstrates the perfect alchemy of peat, maturation, barley varietal and cask type. And that’s Octomore 15.3 for me.”
Octomore 15.1 is a raw and uncompromising single malt distilled from 100 per cent Scottish barley, bottled at 59.1 per cent and malted to 108.2 PPM. The tasting notes describe caramel, vanilla custard and sweet malt are immediate on the nose, followed by a medley of mango, banana, and apricot jam on the palate – all wrapped in a blanket of earthy peat smoke.
The distillery describes Octomore 15.2 as “an intriguing comparison to its 15.1 counterpart, laying bare the profound effect cask type has on the final liquid.
The 15.2 is distilled from the same batch of Scottish grown barley and is also malted to 108.2 PPM, the 15.2 crucially uses a specific combination of second fill wine and second fill bourbon casks, with the spirit finished in first fill Cognac casks, and bottled at 57.9 per cent ABV.
Each Octomore single malt Scotch whisky has been conceived, distilled, matured, and bottled only on Islay. The spirit is un-chill filtered and contains no added colour. The complete Octomore 15 series, including 15.1, 15.2 and 15.3, is available through Spirits Platform and specialist whisky retailers.