When I first started experimenting with non-bourbon/American whiskey earlier this summer my chaperone of all things scotch/Irish/everything else said he had tried an Octomore downtown Chicago with some work friends and deemed it “undrinkable”. I am not sure which edition it was but as my first scotch being Lagavulin 16 and loving it I knew I wanted to reach for an Octomore at some point in my whisky journey. After purchasing this bottle I finally had an opportunity to try it with a group of friends I knew would actually appreciate a mighty Octomore. On first nose and tasting I, as well as my friends, would have assumed we were drinking a bourbon as it was super sweet with little to no peat at all with a definite alcohol burn. I was honestly extremely disappointed as my friend who had tried one prior said this was nothing compared to the monster he tried downtown Chicago. So I took the bottle home and forgot about it until recently. I offered my roommate a dram telling him this tasted like a bourbon and his reaction after a sip was something I really, really wish I had on camera. This was my long way of saying this bottle needs some oxidation before the peat is unleashed. But holy hell, I didn’t know a liquid was capable of the sensations I experienced trying this for the second time. I don’t know if a liquid has ever elicited a fight or flight response out of anyone else other than myself but this triggered that magnitude of a reaction. After calming down and profusely apologizing to my roommate I began to hunt for nosing and tasting notes. The nose is a sweet peat with unmistakable barbeque qualities. Digging below the initial punch I got chocolate, woodsy evergreen sap, and orange. It reminded me of a Ghirardelli brownie mixed with orange flavored oil while baking. I put a cover on the Glencarin for about 20 minutes and after taking a large sniff, for a few moments, I felt like the person in the movies who passes out from the chloroform rag. Tread carefully. The palate is on a level of peat I had yet to experience which really threw me for a loop, not in a bad way, just a challenging way. I would classify this as an ashy smoke as opposed to campfire. The whisky has a spice note to it which I would image is from the new oak. I got some very faint citrus after letting the whisky sit for about 20 minutes. This whisky is the most challenging I have experienced yet. I don’t mean “hard to drink” (although it may be for some) I mean there are definitely notes I am missing here and look forward continuing the experience of the 7.4 Virgin Oak. I will definitely update as I progress through the bottle to present what else may be present. I would not recommend purchasing unless you already love big peat. If you do love big peat this will push your senses to their limits which in my opinion is a ton of fun! 4/5 for now. I feel there are more nuances than what I am finding now but I cannot fault the whisky for me not picking up on them. Will revise once bottle is empty. 4/5 out of sheer ability to acomplish the largest "wow" factor I have had to date.
About this bottle
One of the first few releases under Adam Hannett's regime at the Bruichladdich Distillery. The Octomore 7.4, Bruichladdich's super-peated label, clocks in at 167 ppm phenol (which, absurdly enough, now seems tame compared to the 7.1's 208 ppm or the 6.3's 258 ppm). This malt is aged for seven years in a combination of ex-bourbon casks and medium-toasted virgin French Oak from Allier in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region. 25% was exclusively matured in French Oak with the remaining 75% spending three years in first-fill bourbon, followed by two years in virgin French Oak, and, finally, another two years in first-fill bourbon casks. Bottled at the casks' strength of 61.2% ABV, as always, this Octomore is non-chill filtered and bottled without coloring.
How it tastes
Measured across 14 flavor axes. Tap a note to find other bottles that lead with it.
Reviews
Showing the most detailed of 17 parsed reviews.
Nose: How in the world is this much peat so balanced? Honeysuckle and light fruits dominate the deep peat and woodsmoke. Grape and lychee punch through and dissipate with campfire. Nose After swirl: Iodine forward with heavier dark notes, rubber bands?? Palate: Beautiful balance of peaty woodsmoke, BBQ burnt tips, spiced raisins, mulled berries, and honeysuckle. Finish: One of the longest finishes I've ever experienced. I just took a sip over 2-3 minutes ago, and I'm still tasting the balanced peat and fruit. Incredible. Light notes disappear after ~60 seconds leaving the deep, dark flavors.
Lovely sweet nose, and a delicious rounded and full taste. Medium-long finish on both the palate and the nose, but in spite of the ABV and ppm of this lovely dream (autocorrected there from the intended ‘dram’, but decided to leave it because of the wonderful warmth of this malt). Highly recommended if you can get your hands on it.
Peaty yet floral on the nose. Nutty almond and toffee on the palate. There she is - that punch in the guts Octomore mega peat - the heart burning power packed punch to finish. I imagine this is how Thanos felt when he clicked his index finger and thumb with the Infinity Gauntlet.
Great stuff, like 10.4 but better. This one is loaded with notes of caramel, treacle, chocolate, mocha, cinnamon, raspberries, grapefruit, vanilla, apricots, iodine, mackerels, bacon, cola, barbecue beef ribs, jalapeños, and chili pepper.
Super peaty with some slow burn on the end. Vanilla on the nose, thin bodied, sharp and quick on the end. A very mature dram that demands to be enjoyed slowly, sip-by-sip, and savored as the sun sets over the Potomac River.
11 more reviews were collected for this bottle. The longest ones are shown first.
Tastes like this
Closest flavor profiles across the whole catalog.
