On the day when one of our Neapolitan friends gets married, when Fc Inter becomes Chinese and when we just came back from the bachelor party of our high school classmate: and it is not an improper plural, since we had a three places school-desk, we can only drown the dismay with something extreme: let’s taste the 07.2 version of Octomore, the most hardcore metamorphosis among Bruichladdich peated expressions. That 208 in the bottling name indicates the ppm total amount, so it means that it is (unnecessarily?) very very very peated. In the past we have tasted several Octomore, Comus for example, and we have often recorded how the excesses of the peat were balanced by other excesses, generally coming from the cask… Who knows if this last attempt (5 years, American Oak + Rhône Syrah Wine Casks) will seduce us better.
N: with 58 degrees and 208 ppm, well you can also expect some difficult obstacle, as a first impact… And in fact, the first sniff goes to smash against a wall that, willing to represent it with an image decidedly unnecessary, remembers a pastry with fruit and custard, with one olive in brine on top instead of strawberry… Apart from our weird visions, this Octo appears immediately as very maritime, between salt and sea foam; then we have a quite oppressive smog, hard and acrid peat; next to these things, a winy and slightly acidic hints, something like ink. The finish influence seems really clear to us, but without knowing about ex Sirah casks, would we have ever perceived it? Ah, the demon of intellect! In the end, just in the second row, there is a sweet side, similar to some kind of bourbon (and pop corn?).
P: the first impact is like entering the ring in the final for the WBO heavyweight title and getting punched in the face by mistake. Right from the beginning, a devastating note of wood stands out, and it is full of nuances and different facets: sweet licorice, ink and a lot of drying wine sensations. All around, but it would be better to say‘from within’, the sea, foamy and stormy, which dashes with violence on that wood; brine. Peat tastes like smog, exhaust pipe, burnt plastic, something chemical; if we put together the whole thing, we have an unexpected reminiscence of propolis. Adding water makes sweetness more conventional, including honey, custard cream and vanilla. There is also a very intense balsamic side (conifers).
F: read the palate and you’ll find the answers you’re looking for.
Just to say an obvious thing, we state that adding water makes this Octomore more approachable and pleasant. However, it remains an extreme whisky, which will divide: the Right from the Left party, Fc Inter from Ac Milan fans, fans of Pacciani from those of Padre Pio. Being experienced sailors, we will appreciate without loving it: 84/100.
Recommended soundtrack: Dj 2p feat. Ensi – Don Dada.
