27 Décember 2021.
A bit of history (those who are familiar with it can skip this part)
Octomore Farm began operations in 1815, under the leadership of its owner John Montgomery. And what was to be done with the barley produced on his farm? John's eldest son, George Montgomery, had the idea of making whisky from it. The Octomore distillery opened its doors in 1816. George seemed to be the only worker, but he enlisted the help of John McVorran, a 15-year-old boy who was also his brother-in-law. At first, production was tiny, 270 litres, but after ten years or so, George, who had improvised himself into a Master Distiller, managed to produce 15,000 to 20,000 litres a year.
Unfortunately, John and his son George died suddenly, the first in 1830 and the second in 1833, and disputes over inheritance prevented the distillery from prospering. Production ceased for good in 1840, and gradually the entire Montgomery family emigrated to the USA.
The Octomore adventure would have been forgotten if the team at the Bruichladdich distillery hadn't had the idea of taking over the name to produce the most peated whisky in history. Jim McEwan has this to say on the subject: "I was tired of people saying that Bruichladdich wasn't a real Islay because it wasn't peated. From 1881 to 1960 it was peated. I revived the peated malt and called it Port Charlotte to stop those people. Then I decided to make Octomore so they would shut up forever."
Octomore was first distilled in 2002. But at the time, the barley wasn't even grown on Islay. It was not until a few years later that the distillery's management came up with the idea of a malt produced entirely on Islay, reclaiming the notion of terroir that Speingbank had first explored with Local Barley. The first Bruichladdich Islay Barley was distilled in 2004, the first Port Charlotte Islay Barley in 2008. Octomore's first Islay Barley, Octomore 06.3, was distilled at Octomore Farm in 2009.
Unfortunately, John and his son George died suddenly, the first in 1830 and the second in 1833, and disputes over inheritance prevented the distillery from prospering. Production ceased for good in 1840, and gradually the entire Montgomery family emigrated to the USA.
The Octomore adventure would have been forgotten if the team at the Bruichladdich distillery hadn't had the idea of taking over the name to produce the most peated whisky in history. Jim McEwan has this to say on the subject: "I was tired of people saying that Bruichladdich wasn't a real Islay because it wasn't peated. From 1881 to 1960 it was peated. I revived the peated malt and called it Port Charlotte to stop those people. Then I decided to make Octomore so they would shut up forever."
Octomore was first distilled in 2002. But at the time, the barley wasn't even grown on Islay. It was not until a few years later that the distillery's management came up with the idea of a malt produced entirely on Islay, reclaiming the notion of terroir that Speingbank had first explored with Local Barley. The first Bruichladdich Islay Barley was distilled in 2004, the first Port Charlotte Islay Barley in 2008. Octomore's first Islay Barley, Octomore 06.3, was distilled at Octomore Farm in 2009.
The Line Up Project
The Octomore .3 Series are reputed to be the best. Personally, I prefer the .2s, but it doesn't matter. There are 7 of them, all made with barley from the same farm, Octomore Farm. But they're not the same age, they haven't had the same maturation. What are the differences? What do they have in common? Which is the best of them? For a long time now, I've been wanting to taste all the .3 Series in one evening to sum them up. Now it's finally possible. The drams are classified by alcohol content, from the lowest to the highest.
The Tasting
Octomore Masterclass 08.3 Islay Barley : The 3rd Batch of Octomore Islay Barley is 5 years old, the most peated whisky of all time with 309.1 ppm and is aged in first-fill Bourbon casks and French wine casks.
A crystal-clear nose. Hard to put it any other way. A moment where honey, wheat, iodine, cereals and salt come together to form a grand, smooth and overwhelming whole. Of course, the smoke is intense. The palate is of the same kind, a little liquorish, acidic, with vanilla, slightly strong spices, a finish that lifts you up, quite long, then calm, charcoal, nutmeg, cola, hazelnut. A few berries at the very end. Score : 92
Octomore 10.3 Diàlogos Islay Barley : The 5th Batch of Octomore Islay Barley is 6 years old, peated at 114 ppm and aged in first-fill Bourbon casks.
The nose is somewhere between earth and limestone, a little rough. After a while, it becomes fresh and iodised, honeyed. Floral. A bit of ash behind. On the palate, it's mellow, with quinces and a few spices. The finish is sizzling and coaly, quite long. Score: 89
The nose is somewhere between earth and limestone, a little rough. After a while, it becomes fresh and iodised, honeyed. Floral. A bit of ash behind. On the palate, it's mellow, with quinces and a few spices. The finish is sizzling and coaly, quite long. Score: 89
Octomore 11.3 Diàlogos Islay Barley : The 6th Batch of Octomore Islay Barley is 5 years old, peated at 194 ppm and aged in first-fill American Whiskey casks.
The nose is more earthy and dusty. Of course there's still some iodine, but it's in the background. Straw, hay, cowshed, sweat. Very grainy. Softer and more floral with the addition of water. On the palate, it's like muesli, a bit lemony, some spices, it's slightly acidic, then something more pleasant, like rosewater. Nice finish, quite long, still very earthy and cereal-like. Score : 89
The nose is more earthy and dusty. Of course there's still some iodine, but it's in the background. Straw, hay, cowshed, sweat. Very grainy. Softer and more floral with the addition of water. On the palate, it's like muesli, a bit lemony, some spices, it's slightly acidic, then something more pleasant, like rosewater. Nice finish, quite long, still very earthy and cereal-like. Score : 89
Octomore 12.3 The Impossible Equation : The 7th Batch of Octomore Islay Barley is 5 years old, peated at 118.1 ppm and aged 75% in first-fill American Whiskey casks and 25% in first-fill Pedro Ximénez Sherry casks.
The Sherry immediately gives the nose more fullness, another dimension and a certain sweetness. The iodine comes through behind and strengthens the whole. With the addition of water, there's more red fruits, but it remains balanced. The Sherry becomes more intense over time. A few floral nuances. On the palate, it's excellent, very honeyed, chestnut cream, spicy but mild, not too strong. Very explosive finish, without being aggressive, between fruits and charcoal. Chalk. All this is very long. Score : 91
Octomore 09.3 Diàlogos : The 4th Batch of Octomore Islay Barley is 5 years old, peated at 133 ppm and aged in first-fill American casks, third-fill virgin casks, second-fill French wine casks and second-fill Bourbon casks.
Very well-balanced nose of cereals and iodine, a little earthy. A few vinous touches, but very light. After a while there's a nice fullness, with the tide and sea spray. On the palate, it starts out very suave, very pleasant and mellow. Then the winey flavour comes through, a bit too sweet for my taste, followed by spices that are somewhat too strong. The finish is very good, but not very long, slightly acidic and chalky. Score: 90
Very well-balanced nose of cereals and iodine, a little earthy. A few vinous touches, but very light. After a while there's a nice fullness, with the tide and sea spray. On the palate, it starts out very suave, very pleasant and mellow. Then the winey flavour comes through, a bit too sweet for my taste, followed by spices that are somewhat too strong. The finish is very good, but not very long, slightly acidic and chalky. Score: 90
Octomore Edition 07.3 : The 2nd Batch of Octomore Islay Barley is 5 years old, peated at 169 ppm and aged in Bourbon and Spanish wine casks.
The nose is very good, the wine gives a pleasant fullness with fruity hints. It tends towards liquorice and dried banana. Then it evolves with applesauce, cinnamon and orange blossom. A few drops of salted butter caramel. Fudge. On the palate, it's quite oily, but a little light at first. Then it improves, with vanilla, spices and tobacco. Nice finish, enveloping the palate, cola, wine lees, white grapes. Score: 90
The nose is very good, the wine gives a pleasant fullness with fruity hints. It tends towards liquorice and dried banana. Then it evolves with applesauce, cinnamon and orange blossom. A few drops of salted butter caramel. Fudge. On the palate, it's quite oily, but a little light at first. Then it improves, with vanilla, spices and tobacco. Nice finish, enveloping the palate, cola, wine lees, white grapes. Score: 90
The very first Batch of Octomore Islay Barley is 5 years old, peated at 258 ppm, and aged entirely in Bourbon casks.
It's really very Bourbon-influenced. Vanilla milk. Landes pines. Fresh iodine, almost sweet, a wisp of limestone. It's quite rough, earthy, crushed wheat. On the palate, it's just perfect in its way, very syrupy, well-balanced, fruits, vanilla, spices, iodine, peat. A slight acidity at the end. Finish with a lovely blast, very long, clear, on pine forest and vanilla, charcoal and earth. Score: 91
What I gain from it
- The fact that the Octomore .3 Series are all produced on the same farm on Islay brings out a farmy, cereal, even earthy character that is found in other Bruichladdich malts, but in a less pronounced way. It's Bruichladdich's 'terroir', but above all it's its identity.
- Soon enough, the peat content is so high that you can't smell it any more, your nose is saturated and all that's left are the iodine and fruity fragrances. There's no denying that peat is an important element in Octomore, but it's by no means the key to the quality of the product.
- The Octomore Islay Barleys are all almost the same age, but the peat content varies a great deal and, above all, the maturities are not the same. I can identify three groups:
- Octomore Islay Barley dominated by Bourbon or American Whiskey: 06.3, 10.3, 11.3. Very vanilla-flavoured and iodised, with notes of cereal and even earth. They are quite rustic. The 11.3, in particular, is almost like a Springbank Local Barley, but less successfull.
- Octomore Islay Barley dominated by French or Spanish wine casks: 07.3, 08.3, 09.3. The influence of wine casks brings a very pleasant floral and fruity character, which blends well with the peat and the cerealy profile of Bruichladdich. In this case, they're pretty close to the .2 Series, so I don't see why some people would oppose these two series, which aren't that far apart.
- The Octomore Islay Barley 12.3 forms a group of its own, with partial maturation in Sherry casks. For me, it's a success and I hope they'll do it again.
- The similarities between Octomore and Bruichladdich are quite clear, with cereal and the iodine typical of Bruichladdich, and a medicinal, even plastic burnt note in the background, but what really stands out is the harmony with the range of varied, sometimes exotic fruits. In the end, it's quite similar to Port Charlotte, except that Octomore is definitely more farmy.
Conclusion
Here is my preferred list of Octomore .3 Series: 08.3 (my favourite, and not because it has the highest peat content!) > 12.3 (very successful integration of Sherry) > 06.3 (the "purest" Octomore, with very little wood influence) > 07.3 (a superb nose, but a little less succesfull on the palate) > 09. 3 (very good, but I find it a bit sweet, the influence of the wine casks is too strong here for my taste) > 10.3 (very good stuff, but nothing special either) > 11.3 (a little distorted by the touches of dry earth, not quite a success even if very good). To sum up, we have 3 that are exceptional, the 06.3, the 08.3 and the 12.3, one that is excellent, the 07.3, and the others that are very good, but I don't think it's necessarily worth buying them.
As you can see, Octomore .3 Series are very varied in terms of taste and style, so it would be a mistake to reduce them to the simple fact that they are strong in peat or that the barley was grown on the same farm.
Be that as it may, this is first and foremost a superb product, often overpriced unfortunately, but that's the case with many distilleries on Islay.
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