It’s been quite some time since my last tasting note, mostly due to some cold, and bloody covid playing with my sense of smell and taste, but now I am pretty sure I am back!
Released not long ago, this is the 5th edition of the Octomore 10-year-old – this time It’s not as peaty as before (it’s an Octomore, so it’s still damn peaty) – ‘just’ 90.3 PPM. The whisky we’re about to taste was distilled in 2010 from the 2009 harvest of 100% Scottish grown Optic Barley. It was matured for five years in 1st fill American Oak casks then 5 more in Spanish oak casks of ex-wine (Ribera del Duero), then bottled at 56.3% NCF.
Octomore 10 yo , 5th Edition (90.3PPM) , £160
Nose: Lovely sweet and nutty smoke, some peat too but not too much of it, quite gentle for an Octomore, if I might say so. No peat reek, more like distant peat embers, soot, and tar, then ripe oranges make an entry, with a hint of lemon, grilled pear/apples with a nice sweet malty backbone, and some earth. Lovely and complex, befitting and older Octomore.
Palate: Big thick and spicy at first, quite a body on this one, with lots of smoky and peaty goodness developing, the soot/charcoal/ tar combo from the nose, is here to stay, adding a nice bitter juxtaposition to the otherwise sweet, smoky, meaty, chocolatey liquid. As it develops we’re getting some sweet and bitter notes of mocha, and maybe a hint of ripe red fruit (cherries, berries?).
Finish: Long, smokey, ashy nice wood touches, and roasted nuts alongside soot and tar.
Conclusion: A very very good Octomore indeed! the wine influence is very light, adding nice fruitiness and the toned-down peat levels make up for a complex, and layered whisky, offering the best of both worlds. This is not a peat monster by no means, and if you’re after an untamed Octomore look elsewhere (to previous younger editions, for sure), but for the discerning peated whisky drinker, this one has tons to offer. Head to head with the 2nd edition I love.
Score: 89/100
available online at the Laddie shop