Octomore 13.2

The nose is bold and rich starting with tangy barbecued brisket, grilled figs and slightly sour blueberries followed by dark chocolate truffles topped with sea salt and mild campfire smoke then balsamic strawberries, sautéed apples and caramelized peaches that transitions to mild baking spices and black tea with high ethanol burn. The taste is a rich oily mouthfeel starting with creamy orchard fruits that quickly veers to charred meats topped with tangy barbecue sauce and moderate black pepper spice that fades to a spicy mocha, bacon wrapped dates and seaside rocky minerality then balsamic strawberries, tart blueberries and caramelized peaches that transitions to mild baking spices and black tea with high ethanol burn. The finish is long, starting with bacon wrapped dates and caramelized peaches that fade to moderate campfire smoke, seaside rocky minerality and dark chocolate mocha that lingers for minutes. This is a hell of a big, bold and smokey treat that those 5 years of aging in an oloroso cask have added mildly sour and rich berries to the smokey spirit without overpowering the underlying flavors. There is a bit of youthful sourness to the dram that holds it back slightly along with a moderate pepper spice, but it is just a bold smokey beast that is incredible to taste with a finish that seems to linger on forever. At a price of around $250, this is a smokey indulgent treat that I think any fan of Octomores or peated whisky would highly enjoy and is one of the best Octomores I've ever tried.

This is my only Octomore. I'm glad I bought it so that I have one on the shelf and I think it's very, very good. However, not sure it's worth the $263 I paid when I compare it to other bottles I've picked up around $100 like Laphroaig 10 CS, Laphroaig Cairdeas PX Sherry CS, Ardbeg Uigeadail, Ardbeg Corryvreckan, Highland Park CS, etc. Nose: Dark, dried, sherried fruits (like plums, raisins, and dates) with hot peat and barbecue smoke / smoked meat. Those 2 main notes (sherry and barbecue) are incredible. Flavor: At first it's a spicy and smokey honey sweetness. Then spice, oak, sherry, hot peat with black pepper, barbecue smoke, smoked meat. The peat and smoke here are all barbecue smoke and smoked meats. I don't get much medicinal, ash, campfire, cigarette, etc. Really nice notes for high peat / smoke. Body: Decent thickness, but certainly not oily or syrupy. My guess is that the young age of Octomore hurts it here. Just not enough time in the cask to get really great body. Finish: The sherry and barbecue notes dominate and linger forever.

Octomore 13.2 sells for around $300. If the thought of dissolving the dregs of a charcoal cookout in ethanol has ever entered your mind, then this is the whisky for you. The price will be the price for Octomore. It’s not about the age, it’s about the spirit you put into a cask and what the cask does to the whisky. Lagavulin and Laphroaig have forced peat and Oloroso sherry to go on longer dates, but those are failures when compared to Octomore 13.2. This is the pinnacle for the BBQ in a dram style. I have numerous friends who say that once they go Octomore, they cannot go back to anything else. That’s what I am pushing these days. Buy the best alcohol that you can barely afford with your disposable income, and don’t worry about “I can buy 2.5 Lagavulin 16s with the money this bottle is asking me to spend.” Fuck Lagavulin 16, you don’t need that tame watered-down shit. You need the best expression at what it expresses, and you deserve no less. Buy this. Buy this.

I find the great use Oloroso to mature this liquid brings out your tylical smoke, pear, Oak and toffee flavours. This liquid is complex from the nose to the finish. Love smelling this dram all day long. I like one cube of ice to melt the burn a bit while searching for the flavours past the hest and smoke. Glad i did as i found a mixture of sweet strawberries amd spices. The .2 of any generation provides me with dessert ideas. In the palate i have Strawberry Cobbler before a smoky finish.

Nose: the nose hits you with earthy smoke. A earthy smell I have never experienced in such potency but yet, so delightful! Honey baked ham is the next thing you get, it is simply beautiful! Even hints of slightly burnt hotdogs, and a handful of other wonderful meats. Palate: leathery, the earthy notes stay with a slightly sweet, with a surprisingly quick spice note that greats you on the way down. A little iodine. Finish. Smoooooookeeeeee beautiful smoke A lovely octomore!

NOSE Peat, strawberry shortcake, orange peels, buttercream frosting, toffee and a touch of sulfur and leather. Deep and velvety, I could sit and sniff this for days. PALATE Earthy peat, dried strawberries, vanilla taffy, toffee, cocoa powder, clove, anise, touch of sulfur and leather. But if I did sniff it for days then I wouldn’t get to experience this fantastic palate. FINISH Long -> Peat, dried strawberries, spice and a touch of sulfur.