Octomores Compared; New from Kilchoman; New from Port Charlotte; Sweetened Ballantine‘s

Hello everyone

There hadn‘t been any new samples or major news items to comment on (until yesterday) so, having several years of Octomore samples in my cupboard, I decided to have another look at them to see what differences there might be, if any. Of course there are. Just because the (largely) same barley variety may be used and the same cask types doesn‘t mean to say they won‘t vary from year to year.

The samples I have are Octomores 10, 11, 12, 14 and 15. Now, renosing and tasting all from each collection would lead me to nasal and palate exhaustion so I decided to concentrate on the .1 versions from each year. As you may already know, these are the baseline expression from each year‘s bottlings. For those of you unfamiliar with them, be assured that doesn‘t mean they are the least complex or least characterful in each year. They are all from Scottish mainland barley and matured in US oak ex-bourbon casks. Some years they are first-fill bourbon and other times have been in a bourbon mix including re-char bourbon casks. They are also not at the same strength though fairly close. Colour is all natural so they do vary slightly with 12.1 being the palest and 15.1 just edging the darkest in this group. There‘s amazing depth and layers from all. 12.1 was noticably drier than the first two and 12 and 14 have more vegetal notes than the others. All have some degree of salt and citrus. 12.1 has a note of lychee with a slight waft of it also in 15.1. Several include ginger and 10.1 was the most overtly fruity for me, certainly in this re-examination of them all together. 10 and 11 both had some coconut on the nose. As always with Octomore, the softness of the smoke on the nose always misleads and bursts out on the palate, though not harshly so.

Having re-read my old notes and tried all the 5 whiskies again for this exercise, I could go on in more detail as to individual nose and palate but suffice to say that the differences, similarities and subtleties are fascinating. Maybe not for this column but I will go back and try all the .2s for each year and so on. I‘d encourage you to do same if you can get hold of each one and try them side by side. A morning well spent.

A highlight from Bruichladdich just announced this week is the 2025 relelase of Port Charlotte 18 Year Old. The 2024 version was one of my favourites from last year. I have requested a sample and wait to hear if one is available again this time. As ever, this is distilled, matured and bottled exclusively on Islay. 100% Scottish barley was used and the casks have never once left the island during maturation. We are told, „…the spirit has been matured in a specific combination of rare first fill bourbon casks (53%) and second fill sherry casks (31%). A further, small parcel of Port Charlotte spirit (16%) was also filled into sherry casks for 11 years, before being recasked into Virgin French Oak for around five years. This spirit was then recasked into second fill bourbon barrels, before all components were finally married for bottling.“ Phew! That‘s quite a complex journey and very enticing to the taste buds. This one comes in at 40 PPM and 51.5% vol. and is a limited release. Price is £175 and you can find it on the website at www.bruichladdich.com and from carefully chosen whisky specialists. It ain‘t cheap but it was certainly worth it last year.

Also new out this week is an age statement release from Kilchoman, following on from their 16 Year Old in 2023. This limited release is Kilchoman 13 Year Old, matured in a combination of bourbon barrels, octaves and Calvados casks. It‘s bottled at 50% vol and is available in the UK and Europe now and priced at around £85 – £90. Kilchoman‘s founder Anthony Wills commented, „After the overwhelming response to our 16 Year Old, I’m excited to announce the release of another age statement Kilchoman – The 13 Years Old. The ex-bourbon casks make up the large part of the vatting, lending that unmistakable Kilchoman character, while the addition of calvados casks, which may surprise a few people, infuses vibrant green apple and fresh fruit notes into the mix.” Although our older stocks remain limited, we’re excited to share a variety of aged Kilchoman expressions with you over the next few years.” So potentially more to look forward to. Bottling strength is 50% vol. and it will be available in the UK and across Europe from this week, priced between £85 and £90. Other markets will have it soon.

A sample arrived today but no time to nose and taste for this column so it will be featured in March.

Last for this time is news of a new Ballantine‘s expression, Ballantine‘s Sweet Blend, no indication of price and for the moment it‘s available only in Poland with other markets to come. It‘s at 30% vol and described as „a premium spirit drink“. Well it can‘t be called whisky at only 30%. It‘s billed as „layering the classic notes of Scotch Whisky with sweet flavours“ which, to me, sounds like a cocktail in full bottle size. The flavours used are natural the label tells us. They‘re caramel and vanilla so emphasising some of the flavours already found in whiskies. They claim it‘s „an answer to the rising demand for sweeter, more approachable spirits“. From where and whom, I‘d like to know and how is it being used or recommended for use? I‘m all for widening the appeal of whisky or giving people the taste for it by introductory means. This is why the industry exported immature spirit to be mixed with local spirits in some markets, known as admix, so that consumers could develop a taste for something that moved them on to the real thing as their economies developed and allowed their higher incomes to purchase the „full fat“ version. Now, Master Blender Sandy Hyslop wouldn‘t let something out of the door if he didn‘t think it was good enough but it still rather smacks to me of a bottled cocktail or base. I‘d like to try it though just to find out.

That‘s all from me for this time. March almost upon us so spring is nearly here – or autumn if you‘re in a different hemisphere and both with exciting seasonal opportunities and reasons to try whiskies you‘ve not sampled before.

Till next time, happy dramming.

Slainte mhath,

Caroline