Octomore 06.1/167 Scottish Barley

Bottle killed on 4/29/2019 Bruichladdich Distillery OB Octomore Edition 06.1 Scottish Barley 5 years old 57% ABV Bottled 2013 Price: 174 USD I finished my SECOND bottle of this gorgeous peat monster, and that is the only Octomore that I can make that claim about. Part of that is because this is fairly available where I am, and prone to being found on sale, and part of that is because this is irresistibly delicious. This whisky is a mammoth in the La Brae tar pit. Oily hydrocarbon-covered tusks right up your ass; so beautifully balanced with fully mature bourbon influence. This will rival a 20 year old single malt in complexity, but you need some water to bring this down to about 46-50% ABV to smooth out the sharp edges. I swear, soot fleetingly precipitates out of solution when water drops hit this 18k golden liquid. Behind the sooty and tarry smoke, there are exquisite notes of vanilla, pineapple, coconut, butter, and sea salt. And, yes, there is caviar. The finish is long and dynamic. Occasionally, I even get pickled vegetables and MSG towards the end. If you have a fondness for peat, this will be a luxurious experience; a quintessential Islay hug. Rating (Price not factored): 94 / 100 Purchase Satisfaction (Price factored): 4.5 / 5

After coming down off the highs of two rich Armangnacs this on first taste was disappointing however adding water really opened it up. As SH said vanilla, coconut, butter and more. It really is a lovely dram on the palate and lingers long on the side of the tounge. Now a couple of caveats. It says it's the peatiest dram...hmm that I just do not get. I suspect it's a case of measuring the peat levels of the barley then distilling it in a number of ways which miminise the end result. Although as PBM mentioned a while back there comes a point your palate really just doesn't notice additional pbm levels (I just noticed two acronyms with two separate meanings!). I think where this one falls short a bit for me is i'm not a fan of the more lighter acidic peat type drams I prefer the rich full bodied Lagavullin 16 or Laphroaig 10 / Lore approach. The aftertaste is less than the mid taste. It does carry with a nice warming glow but nothing spectacular. Still if you are a fan of this peat style I can see why you would rate it so highly it is excellently blanced and executed on the mid palate. I'd rate this 3rd after the Black Art 4 1990 and Octomore 10 yr Dialogos. 4.25 - 4.5.

My first Octomore... I wonder if it's true that you never forget your first one. Had the opportunity to get a sample of this whisky, very fortunate. After reading that this release was rated at 167 ppm, I was expecting a slap on the nose, but surprisingly, it wasn't as strong as I expected. This does not mean that it was not peaty, because it was, but I was preparing for a stronger punch. That came later, in the first sip. The first sip was a slap on the senses... the smokiness was strong on the first two sips, with light notes of honey, and vanilla. By the third sip, the peat moved to the third row in the bus, and the honey, vanilla and light fruit moved to the front. The finish was very good, in which the peat stayed with me for several minutes. For those that like the smoky/peated whisky, if you get the opportunity, go for it.

This is very good. Excellent. Let’s beat to the chase and call it what it is: cask strength Ardbeg 10. The distillery stumbled upon: “If you triple the amount of phenols in a peated whiskey, you may make up for half the aging process”...this is not science, but a working theory that I dare some of my other favorite scotch brands to try. The money is worth it, due to the scarcity of the bottle and more importantly the flavor! The knock: difficult to have more than one dram. 5.0 - go out and buy all of the stock you can find. 4.0 - must buy at least one bottle before you die. 3.0 - solid, must try at a bar, or mooch from a friend. 2.0 - didn't like it, you may. 1.0 - you may have the palate of my dog, and he licks his own ass.

This is a powerful whisky with an aroma that hits you the moment you take off the cork off the bottle. That strong smell tempers a little bit in the glass. There's tons of smoke, as you would expect from the world's most heavily peated Scotch, but there's also a pleasant aroma on the nose. The palate retains the heavy peat smoke flavor, along with some subtle fruit notes that peaks through the smoke. The strength of this whisky is further seen in the finish, which is long, deep, and smoky. It has a high ABV, so a little bit of water goes a long way towards opening up those sweet, fruit flavors on the palate, but even watered down slightly, that smoke plows through.

Nose, peat with medical note, bug spray. Palate:Sweet, then smoke Finish is a bit of young barley malt then, long alcohol burn and smokey pears continue to linger. The most expensive whiskey I've purchased. Nice, but would prefer Ardbeg or to try a different version rather than rebuy 6.1. I thought this 2 years ago, as the last one on the shelf. Two years later I was surprised to have it reappear when they are up and running release 15?