Whisky: Octomore 7 Year (2007), Rest & Be Thankful

Country/Region: Scotland/Islay

ABV: 63.9%

Cask: Sauternes

Age: 7 Year (Distilled 19 Dec. 2007, Bottled 12 Aug. 2015)

Nose: Earth, sea, and stone. The nose sat somewhere between a drafting studio and a walk across shoreline dunes. Pencil lead, charcoal, clay, and stone brought to mind an art museum with old wooden floors. The slightly earthy funk of old clay, not quite petting zoo funk, lingered with faint hints of oil paint, citrus, and dried florals. Memories of shoreline hikes over beachgrass capped dunes and the distant, though odorous, aroma of nesting shorebirds.

Palate: Full-bodied with notes of earth, sea, and fruit. The dram was a study in contrasts between an almost earthy funk, maritime brine, and sweet fruit custard tarts. Sweet impressions of pears, apples, and custard shyly hid behind notes of clay, old hay, and salty air. There were hints of cherimoya and tropical fruit ice cream at the end, though it remained enveloped within earthy loam and clay.

Finish: Lingering notes of clay and saltwater.

Score: 8

Mental Image: Laysan Fledglings and Dune Burrows

Notes: I barely knew how to describe this dram; it seemed to pull in so many different directions simultaneously. There was a predominant earthiness to it that never really went away, but occasionally brine or fruit fought to fore. It was like fine dining with a pear custard tart overlooking windswept moors or coastal dunes. It was a shadow or a memory of the sublime— that feeling of terrifying or overpowering beauty and awe. Maybe that is overly poetic for a tasting note; what the hell does the sublime taste like? Joseph Conrad put it best in one of my favorite passages from Heart of Darkness:

It seems to me I am trying to tell you a dream--making a vain attempt, because no relation of a dream can convey the dream-sensation, that commingling of absurdity, surprise, and bewilderment in a tremor of struggling revolt, that notion of being captured by the incredible which is of the very essence of dreams.

In some respects, his description of the vain attempt to relate the feeling of a dram applies to tasting and tasting notes in general. They are rarely literal, at least when I write them, and require a certain amount of imagination. They make the most sense when shared in the moment.

I considered this dram perfectly dreamy— it had a rich aroma, a full-bodied weight, and a delightfully complex flavor profile. As with most Octomore, the price point is far beyond what one usually sees for a seven-year whisky, but then, there are not many single cask Octomore out there, and this was one of the best.