Octomore Edition 11.1 5 Year Old

Islay Single Malt Scotch Whisky 
Distillery Bottling 70cl / 59.4%

An interesting contrast with the Octomore Edition 11.3, this earlier edition Octomore 11.1 is also a 5-year-old and is also from first fill bourbon casks but crucially has a phenolic index of 'only' 139ppm rather than 11.3's enormous 194ppm.

That said, 139ppm is still pretty massive so you can still expect an enormous blast of earthy peat, but naturally there's also some balancing fruit and sweetness from the first fill bourbon casks. It's remarkable how drinkable these Octomores always are despite the daunting numbers - and let's not forget the 59.4% strength as well.

Attributes

Tasting Notes

Nose: Initial notes of Lemon, wet peat, pencil shavings, and a salty minerality. Peach yoghurt, cinder toffee, rubbery smokey almost antiseptic notes come from the peat smoke, well balanced with the green fruit and malty notes coming through the spirit. Honey, malt sugar, dried grass, come through with time with a little hint of ginger and wood spice.

Palate: Brown sugar sweetness hits the palate initially. The chilli heat of high strength carries the Octomore DNA across the palate, it is clean, supple in texture and has a complex combination of flavours rushing for attention. Another taste and stone fruit, apricot, that peach yoghurt come to the fore and then the cask influence appears with sweet vanilla, toasted oak, brown sugar and soft toffee. The maritime notes, the minerality and citrus all weave the Bruichladdich DNA through the flavour profile bonding the sense of place and identity in this dram.

Finish: Malt, huge peat notes, earthy and oily, tar and bonfires. Vanilla honey, ginger spice and syrupy sweetness.

Character: Lithe, sleek with intense earthy peat notes, balanced by the presence malt sugar, vanilla and oak. The scents of Islay in a glass – the ozone fragrance of the sea, bog myrtle from the moss and peat smoke in the cold night air and at the heart of it all a warmth that brings harmony to the whole.