Octomore Edition 04.2 Comus 5 yo

 

 

 

61°

Distillery : Bruichladdich - Islay 

Bourbon Barrels and Sauternes Château d'Yquem French Wine Finish

Original Bottling 

Limited Edition 

Single Malt 

Bottled in 2012

Unchillfiltered, Uncoloured, Cask Strength

Peated around 167 ppm

 

 

 

The 2nd version of Octomore's 4th Batch is also the 2nd Octomore to be finished in wine casks. This time, it's Sauternes, one of my favorite wines, and more precisely Château d'Yquem wine, one of the most famous in the world, and the most expensive. Unfortunately it is not specified how long this finish lasted, I would have liked to know. The result was put on sale in the spring of 2012, in the number of 18,000 bottles, and since then this edition has been a cult hit, very expensive and adored by connoisseurs. Comus is the son of Bacchus and Circe in Greek mythology, he is also the eponymous hero of a play by John Milton, in which he uses magic potions to seduce a young woman.

 

 

 

 

Let's Taste It :

Exceptionally fruity nose, with red plum and blood orange, peach and apricot, kumquat and mango, passion fruit, persimmon, prickly pear. Red grape, very pulpy, banana and vanilla. Comice pear. And at the same time, mineral, salt and gemstones, jasper, quartz, tourmaline. And then, underneath it all, something deeply dirty, motor oil, gas oil, which has been fermenting for hours, animal sweat, that of a thoroughbred horse, at once repulsive and full of nobility. Something muddy, marshy, a wading ground, with herbaceous elements, fragments of brown coal. Crushed gooseberries, left out in the sun. Fragments of limestone, talcum powder. Nutmeg, bread rubbed with truffles.
On the palate, the feeling is of tasting diamonds, then it's syrupy, with exotic fruits, but it's indefinable, waltzing between several different fruits. The spices are both strong and very well-managed, warm, clove, cumin, star anise, pepper crumbs, curry. Guérande salt, but just the right amount. It's vinous, of course, a very fruity, very strong white wine. Then more truffle, wet dog, dry earth. Very long finish, where the minerality comes through again, quite calm in the end. The fruit is almost spongy, juicy, pear liqueur, drops of honey, cinnamon, speculoos soaked in black tea. Towards the end, it's a little cereal-like, with hints of wheat and puffed rice. Egg yolk, pineapple. A hint of gooseberry. Soft, varnished wood.

 

In Short, 

To combine such minerality with this deluge of fruit is crazy. Not only is it sublime, it's also highly original. It really stands out from the other Octomores, firstly because the peat is very light, I barely felt it. On the other hand, what a madness! Power and harmony come together perfectly in this definitive opus. This is undoubtedly the best Octomore I've ever tasted, and one of the best whiskies. Sell your car, sell your house, sell the kids, this nectar may be overpriced, but you need it.

Score : 93 

                                           To Be Listened While Sipping :

 

                                           Tindersticks - Jism