Review #143: Octomore 07.3

Octomore 07.3

Islay - 4- NCF- NCA - Sample ($190 at the local) - 63%

From Bruichladdich's website.  

THIS, OCTOMORE 07.3, IS THE SECOND RELEASE OF OCTOMORE OF OCTOMORE - OCTOMORE WHISKY MADE FROM BARLEY GROWN TWO MILES ALONG THE COAST FROM THE DISTILLERY AT FARMER AND FRIEND JAMES BROWN'S OCTOMORE FARM.
It was distilled in 2010 from grain harvested on Lorgba field the previous summer, peated to 169ppm and matured here on Islay for all its life in American bourbon barrels and Spanish wine casks of Ribera del Duero.

Color - Amber and super viscous

Nose - Smoke, burnt ends, bacon, fruit - apricots, fresh pear, lavender, nutty - Wow, really impressed with this. It keeps changing, so complex.  With water, the nose is really muted but more fruit comes out, nectarines, cinnamon

Palate - Apples, honey, malt, oak- with water honey oak

Finish - long - Raw Peat, smoked oysters, malt, cane sugar, heat - with water, bonfire ash dominates everything

Overall - 7 - This is an interesting whisky but not an every day drinker. Oh boy do you have to be in the mood for this. The nose may be the best peated nose I've ever smelled. The whisky was great but a little too hot, understandably at 63%. However, water seemed to turn it to one dimensional pest smoke. 

---------------------------------------------------------------

Rating system is price influenced as it is based on my shopping decisions when buying a bottle.

10 Best in Show

9 Great Dram for Special Occasions

8 Worthy of consistent spot in my collection

7 Worth picking up a bottle if in the mood

6 I would buy a bottle if it went on sale

5 I would drink it happily if offered

4 I would drink it if offered on the rocks

3 Maybe some soda will make this potable

2 I'll Pass

1 Toilet cleaner

Inclusive Ratings

Overall 6.1

Standard Deviation 0.90

Skew 0.66

Kurtosis -0.16