After the Octomore 9.x Dialogos of late 2018 (review here) It’s time to review the elder brother the 10 year old Octomore. As always with Bruichladdich they provide a lot of information about the peating levels, casks and vatting formula:
- The barley was peated to 167 PPM during the malting
- usage of 100% Scottish barley of the Optic strain, which was harvested in 2007 and was distilled in 2008 .
- maturation took place on Islay (as always) in the following cask types:
- Ex-Port
- Ex-Cognac
- Ex-American casks
- Virgin Oak
- Full term maturation in 1st fill Port pipes (37%), 1st fill Cognac casks (31%), 2nd fill ex American whiskey casks (20%)
- With an additional parcel from 3 years first fill ex American, 2 years virgin oak, final 6 years in ex American whiskey casks (12%)
- Bottled unchill-filtered and colouring free at Bruichladdich Distillery, 56.8% alc. / vol.
- Limited to 12,000 bottles
Now that’s a lot of information indeed, we love it, don’t we?
Octomore 10 yo Dialogos 56.8%, 2018 , £155
Nose: Nice and sweet on entry with hints of tobacco, vanilla, and toffee filled chocolate Bonbons , as well as cooked pear and creme Catalan. Not very feisty and quite tame, if I might say so, seems that the port and cognac casks tamed this bear, and one also has to remember this is a 10 year old whisky, and not your average 5 year old Octomore. I like that.
Palate: Quite spicy and bolder than the nose, no doubt. Smoke, spices, and more tobacco, with a nice sweetness, and a certain creaminess as well, a touch of wine as well, but not wine-sky, no sir. Feels well composed, if not Uber complex.
Finish: Wood, vanilla and smoke with a hint of coconut and hints of pepper.
Conclusion: This is a very good Octomore. Maybe it’s not the most complex of them, but it’s very round, and well integrated, with the age and wine casks taming the ultra peated new make. Highly enjoyable, but If i must choose I would prefer the younger 9.3 Dialogos. At any rate, Octomore fans will love this, no doubt. Not cheap as always.