Hello everyone

Last column for this year and I‘m looking at the latest release in the Octomore range from Bruichladdich. They launched a couple of months back but my samples arrived only earlier this month.

I‘m not going to fit in all three full tasting notes here but tried to decide if I have a favourite and use that. Deciding was hard! I‘m setting the 10 Year Old aside and comparing only 15.1, 15.2 and 15.3 with their differing maturations. I‘ve been working in and around the industry a long time but I still get impressed by talented blenders and the whisky music they can play by varying maturation cask types, the length of time in those casks and the subtleties they can achieve.

The colour of all three was a little different one from the other with 15.2 being the palest. The other two were more similar. 15.1 (59.1% abv and 108.2 ppm phenol level) was matured in bourbon barrels and re-charred ex-bourbon casks. Price is around £140. 15.2 (57.9% and108.2ppm phenol level) was matured in 2nd fill wine casks (wine type not specified), 2nd fill bourbon casks and 1st fill cognac casks. Price around £155.

15.1 is the reference point for the rest of this year‘s offerings and is a very worthwhile dram. 15.2 felt more peppery and spicier but also much more mouth-drying than the others but still that malted barley sweetness and plenty more going for it too. Both 15.1 and 15.2 were distilled using 100% Scottish barley. By contrast, for 15.3 100% Islay barley was used and a phenol level of a whopping 307.2ppm. Like the other two, 2018 distillation from the 2017 harvest. All are 5 years old (there might be an additional few months on top but they don’t reach 6 years) but the flavour and character in all are a delight. Looking back over my notes it looks like 15.3 was my favourite, though that could change on a second, more leisurely tasting. 15.3 was matured in a combination of bourbon casks and oloroso hogsheads. In all three of these I was impressed by how definite but also how carefully woven in the smoke is. All are smokier and peatier on palate than on the nose.

So Octomore 15.3:

Appearance: Light tawny with brass highlights. Initially swift tears then very slow, sticky and close together.

Nose: Soft smoke; sweet maltiness; toffee – and a fleeting touch of potato cooking water! Vanilla sponge and custard and sweet wood plus sultana fruit. As it sits, more toffee/butterscotch sweetness comes forward. Bit of wax and damp earth. With water, a little fresh sea air; more sultana/soaked raisin notes. Coconut ice and perhaps even a little bit of chocolate lime sweets.

Palate: Initial smoky, peaty cereal sweetness and creamy then a little mouth-drying (less than 15.2); coffee grounds; charred wood; vanilla and dried vine fruits.

Finish: Char and delightful smoke; rear sweetness, coffee grounds and a coconut note that reminds me a little of the coconut element in Laphroaig Quarter Cask. Delightfully rich and complex for its age.

I‘d happily sit with a dram of any one of this 15 series. This last one is the most expensive at £195.

Some of the, for me, key news points of 2024 have also involved Islay – the re-opening of Port Ellen in a new and dramatic form; plans by Chivas to build a distillery there and the construction of the Portintruan distillery too as well as plans for Laggan Bay. A busy place is Islay. Recently, we‘ve had news that the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau in the US has approved a designation for American single malt. Good news for all concerned there. One point that reached me this last week has been news of action in the US by Glencairn Crystal against a company they say is selling copies of its whisky glass and using the Glencairn name. I checked the website of the company concerned and did find similar glasses but no mention of Glencairn. Maybe they‘ve decided to behave themselves on the name score but taking someone else‘s protected design is very bad form. If correct, I hope Glencairn‘s action is successful. Diageo’s plans to rebuild Talisker Distillery were something of a surprise. I haven’t been there for a number of years so don’t know why they feel the need. They did say why but I’d like to see for myself what the issue is. Time for another visit to Skye…

Lastly for now, I‘ve looked back over my notes of the whiskies I‘ve tasted in 2024 and my favourites from those I‘ve been sent to try, plus the above Octomore 15.3, would seem to be Bladnoch 14 Year Old; Tomatin Marsala Cask Finish; Cardrona The Falcon; Port Charlotte 18 Year Old; Scallywag The Chocolate Edition; Isle of Raasay Selfridge‘s Exclusive; Ardbeg Spectacular; Jura The Paps 19 Year Old; Laphroaig Elements 2.0; Glen Moray Peated Rioja Finish; House of Hazelwood The Old Ways 1972 Single Grain; Kilchoman 100% Islay 14th Edition; Ferg & Harris Craigellachie 15 Year Old with main maturation in an amontillado sherry butt and 1 month finishing in virgin oak. I looked at whittling these down and had real trouble so decided not to bother. Does look as though I‘m edging towards peatier things this year but it is purely a function of what I‘m sent. I also don’t include notes for everything I’ve received in these columns.

Well, that‘s enough from me for this year. I have only to wish all of you out there a very Happy New Year and all best wishes for 2025.

Do let me know what your own New Year drams have been. I‘ve got to go and pick mine for later.

Slainte mhath,

Caroline

Hello everyone

A shorter one than usual this time. Not all of the whisky info that‘s come in has been of much interest or for comment. Also, I‘ve been away for just over a week, enjoying the Christmas sights of Paris. Plenty of wine but no whisky. I had hoped to try some more French whiskies but none in sight in the on-trade places I went to.

My good news from this month so far is that, if all goes to plan, I‘ll be doing an interview with Adam Hannett, Head Distiller at Bruichladdich, in time for my first column in January. My hoped for samples of this year‘s Octomore series also arrived, thanks to Adam on Islay and Amy Brownlee at HQ. As I now have a cold, the only one I‘ve been able to taste in time is the 10 year old from series 15 and that intrigued me in terms of its maturation. I‘ll find out soon if any of the other three excite my palate more. More on those next time and I’ve also kept aside a little of this 10 year old to try alongside them. 

The maturation for this one was 50% first fill bourbon, 15% Pineau des Charentes cask; 25% second fill PX sherry butts and 10% first fill red wine casks (which red wine not specified). It‘s bottled at 52.2% abv. with no added colour and not chill-filtered. All casks blended and married for 6 months. Peat level is a robust 107 ppm.

Appearance: Shining, ripe barley gold with a hint of tawny. Pale brass/aged white burgundy highlights. Tears swift at first and then much slower and more widely spaced.

Nose: Smoky and peaty but very refined despite the peating level of the barley. It doesn‘t hit you in the face. A touch of warm oiland wax but also a fruity sweetness – stewed apricots and pears. Subtle oak, smoky honey and some candy floss. With water, the smoke is a little more pronounced but still refined More dark sugars/ treacle and some dark fruits. Salted popcorn (that slightly sweaty, toasted grain nose) and tropical juices. A nose to sit and savour. Develops more sweet notes as it sits.

Palate: Medium mouth feel – not too oily. Much more smoke and peat on the palate than on the nose. Richly roasted barley. Some astringency plus treacle/coffee ground bitterness. Mainly rich barley, smoke and dryness. Some vanilla from the oak as well as tannins. Smoked honey, smoky pear and tingly spices.

Finish: Very long, char and tar, smoky and dry with treacle sweet and bitter notes plus spices.

Also regarding whisky on Islay, Chivas (Pernod Ricard) submitted plans for its proposed Islay distillery at Gartbreck Farm in October with the regional council (Argyll & Bute) validating it at the end of November (impression shown here). No guarantee the local council will approve them as initially submitted but the company‘s plan for the facility to be carbon neutral should help. They are also proposing improvement of local roads. In fact, the planning application on the council site refers to, „Erection of whisky distillery together with visitor facilities, long sea outfall, water abstraction, pump house, road improvement and associated infrastructure works“. It‘s a site which has passed through one set of hands and almost a second before being left alone for some years. Pernod Ricard really missed a trick years ago when they bought part of Allied Distillers and didn‘t get Laphroaig then but that‘s something I‘ve covered in the past. I do still wonder where all the water will come from for the recent and proposed distilleries. I‘m musing whether Islay will need a desalination plant to purify sea water! Also, as I‘ve commented before, housing will be needed unless all jobs go to existing, experienced whisky-making residents who have homes there now but they’ll surely need to import new people. There‘s already a housing shortage for people returning to Islay or those coming in to work. I would have hoped such concerns might be part of the plans but it doesn‘t look like it.

Well, I‘ll be back in a week or so with the last piece for 2024. For those who celebrate it, happy Christmas dramming. See you just before New Year.

Slainte,

Caroline