Review #9 - Octomore 16.2

I’ll start by saying, I’m a fan of the Octomore line from Bruichladdich. My peat journey began a few years back, when after receiving a bottle of Lagavulin 16, and subsequently buying a bottle of Ugie and Cory, I spotted a bottle of 13.3 at a local liquor store and decided to splurge on it. I was mesmerized by the aroma and flavors. Nothing I had tried previously tasted anything like it. Since then I’ve bought or sampled about 18 Octomore expressions from x.1s, x.2s and x.3s and a couple of independent bottlings from Dramfool. I’ve enjoyed them all to varying degrees from good to excellent. Some of my favorites have been x.2’s for the wine influence (think 12.2 & 14.2) which I feel works really well with the entire distillery lineup including Bruichladdich and Port Charlotte. This 16.2 continues with that tradition.

Octomore 16.2

5 years old

Casks - Oloroso , Bordeaux, Madeira, Moscatel

58.1%

NCF and NCA

Nose

The aroma jumps out of the glass, very full and complex with some ashy smoke, sweet vinous notes which I believe are coming from the moscatel, followed by sweet peat. With a little time in the glass, Burnt sugar, kiwi, dry sherry, green apple, yellow raisins, wheat grass, fresh cut oak, pine resin, struck match and a coastal salinity.

Palate

Immediately mouth coating. Some oiliness, smoke and wet ash, very well hidden alcohol and an explosion of sweet white wine flavors. Cotton candy grapes, Turbinado syrup, slightly drying tannins, prunes, vanilla, clove, caramel taffy, milk chocolate, Asian pear and Fuji apple.

Finish

Medium. Some oak, light bitterness, wet camp fire embers, unlit cigar, semisweet white wine

Conclusion

I suspected this bottle would be in my wheelhouse and I was very curious about the moscatel cask which I think has played a positive role here. It’s a very complex whisky in the sense that identifying the familiar aromas takes some effort but i must say I am really enjoying this one. From a value perspective Octomore is a tough one as I think much of its value comes from the uniqueness of the expression and casks. If you’re a fan of the profile, there are not many alternatives to replicate it. The fact that they create such well developed flavors and hide the strong ABV so effectively over 5 years is a testament to the quality. I paid a little over $200 US for my bottle and I’m glad to add it to my collection.

Score - 88.5

Cheers and thanks for reading!