For the next couple of weeks the website will feature reviews and notes about Octomore, the peatiest label Bruichladdich distillery produces.

I’ll let you know right away, I am not a huge Octomore fan and find the whole concept to be a bit of a gimmick. That is not entirely an unpopular opinion, or particularly hot take, but Octomore does have its legion of fans.

This is not to say there are no good Octomore; I have had some that I truly loved (see for instance this release from R&BT) and a few of those reviewed this week were fabulous. However, the whisky often feels shallow and simple: it is big loud flavors for those who want to be a bit deaf after the heavy metal concert and there is nothing wrong with that.

Octomore is also expensive. It was always an expensive whisky for the age and that remains unchanged. Though I wonder how long that can last, especially as the global whisky market cools and some of the peripheral players in the industry curtail production and expansion (if they have not already done so). Will consumer continue shelling out $200+ for 5 year old whisky as long as the story-telling is strong enough? I am not sure.

I don’t intend to ward anyone off from Octomore; even if I find it to be a gimmick and too expensive for the quality, it is worth a go and there are some stunning bottles out there.

These reviews have been a few years in the making (apparently I haven’t reviewed an Octomore since 2022!) Due to the aggressively loud character of Octomore I rarely feel compelled to pour it, much less take a dram and sit with it thoughtfully so I can write down some notes or draft a review. It is the kind of whisky that ends a night rather than begins it, and when I first write up notes, I prefer to try to whisky alone, or pour it as the first dram. That was difficult with Octomore, because it wanted to be the first and last dram of the evening.

I did find time to give each of these an evening alone, but otherwise poured them in various flights so I could do more side by side comparisons. This series did slow me down on reviewing anything else though, my taste buds needed some time to recuperate.

So here we go; two weeks of Octomore, something I am not likely to repeat again. Not for a few years at the very least.

You can find prior reviews of Octomore releases on this site through the link: Octomore!

Artwork this week is my own; this was one of the first sketches I did after the “Penguin goes to Japan,” it’s not much, but it’s honest!