Octomore 9.1

Octomore is Bruichladdich’s highly acclaimed “intensely peated” whisky, with a relatively very high concentration of peat in the base malt. Each year a new series is released in four different variations: x.1 (American Oak/ex-Bourbon), x.2 (European Oak/ex-wine), x.3 (second-fill casks) and x.4 (virgin oak). This is 9.1 from late 2018, which is age stated at baby-faced 5 years, and aged on ex-Bourbon casks.

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Distiller: Bruichladdich
Distilled: 2012
ABV: 59.1%
Age: 5yo
Cask type: ex-Bourbon
Source: Taster at Bourbon Beer and Whiskyfestival
Setting: Unblind

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Nose: Apple, coconut, marsipan and candied orange. The peat is somehow very present, but not in your face, and every time you go back to find it, you find yourself nosing something else entirely.
Palate: Hot and agressive. Apple, grain and a green/grassy note.
Finish: Here the peat seems to have run out of tricks. Dry and astringent ash overwhelms the mid-length finish.
Overall: The nose is fantastic, as Octomore noses tend to be. But where Octomore usually explodes on the palate, I find this is more of a one-note affair, starting with some youthful heat and green notes, and ending with an uninspiring ashy whimper. It’s fantastic for a 5 year old whisky, no doubt about it. But it’s still just a 5 year old whisky, and it drinks like one.
Rank: 6