Producing WhiskyCast has given me the opportunity to taste some really amazing whiskies, and I’m pleased to share my tasting notes with you here. You can search my entire database of tasting notes from this page, and I hope you’ll find it useful.
This is the first Octomore to carry a .4 designation…meaning that it was matured in virgin oak casks, along with ex-Bourbon casks. It is also older than most (but not all) Octomore bottlings at seven years old, and was distilled in 2008 using Scottish barley peated to a level of 167ppm. It is also the first release since Adam Hannett took over as head distiller and blender following Jim McEwan’s retirement in 2015.
The nose has a soft smokiness with notes of briny wet sand, driftwood, mild pipe tobacco, and a hint of caramel candy sweetness. The taste in one word: boom! Intense peat smoke, cinnamon spice, lemon zest, vanilla, dry leaves, barbecue sauce and pipe tobacco come together with a great balance and mouthfeel. The finish is long and smoky, but with a gentle balance and notes of citrus and brine underneath. Excellent! (March, 2016)
This is the first Octomore to carry a .4 designation…meaning that it was matured in virgin oak casks, along with ex-Bourbon casks. It is also older than most (but not all) Octomore bottlings at seven years old, and was distilled in 2008 using Scottish barley peated to a level of 167ppm. It is also the first release since Adam Hannett took over as head distiller and blender following Jim McEwan’s retirement in 2015.
