Even though springtime is upon us, it’s always a good time for whiskey. At a recent tasting of the Bruichladdich Octomore vertical at the Gramercy Park Hotel, we got to sip on three different varieties: the Bruichladdich unpeated, Classic Laddie, Port Charlotte Heavily Peated and the Octomore Super Heavily Peated.
Bruichladdich Distillery Whisky Tasting
Bruichladdich Distillery was built in 1881 by the Harvey Brothers. They were a whisky family with over a century of distillery ownership. These three brothers decided to combine their expertise to build a third Harvey Distillery. Now, Bruichladdich Distillery has three different whiskys: Bruichladdich, Port Charlotte, and Octomore.
Bruichladdich Unpeated Whisky
Their unpeated offering – very unusual for an Islay Scotch. It showcases their influences from the land and the sea and acts as their baseline scotch.
Classic Laddie Whisky
Is light and sweet on the nose, tastes light but slightly spicy, and has a little bite but very smooth overall. There are sweet, fruity, and floral notes, maybe honey too? A slight salinity as well. Adam tells us Classic Laddie is oily in texture and coats the mouth intentionally, and is distilled in non-full stills to allow high vapor contact with the copper to create purity.
Port Charlotte Heavily Peated Whisky
is what you’d expect of an Islay whiskey: heavily peated, smoky. Port Charlotte is peated to 40PPM (Parts Per Million), higher than most of its contemporaries.
Octomore Whisky Super Heavily Peated
So you must be wondering, “If Bruichladdich offers an unpeated and a peated scotch, what’s behind door number 3?” That would be Octomore, named after the farm above the village of Port Charlotte; it is a super heavily peated whisky, starting initially at 80 PPM to as high as 258 PPM recently. If Port Charlotte were made as peaty as it is ‘because we can,’ then Octomore would be the ‘what if’ of the family. How far can peated scotch go? Here are my observations as an Average Joe.
- Octomore 6.1 167 PPM – The nose is floral and vegetal. It has an oily mouth-feel, more of a bite than Classic, and a ‘green’ smoke.
- Octomore 7.1 208 PPM – The nose is slightly chemical or medicinal to me. Oily mouthfeel again, with significant bite. Finishes quite sweet, however.
- Octomore 7.3 169 PPM – Smells of salt and smoke. Less bite than 7.1 and 6.1. Some hints of spice on the sides of the tongue as well. Finishes with a dark sweetness. Maybe caramel or plum?
- Octomore 7.4 167 PPM – Aged in virgin oak casks. It has a heavy nose with smoke front and center. It catches you off guard if you’re not familiar with Octomore. With a medium bite, it’s a warm and sweet whisky. Smoky and oily, with some body to it. Finishes with dark sweet notes as well. Caramel, cherry, dried fruit? Smoke and oak. Easily drinkable. With a touch of water it’s even more drinkable, the smoke and oil are more present, and has a sweet finish as well. Lighter though, with some winter spice, and apple maybe?
If you’re planning to have your own distillery, home distilling equipment are for sale at North stills, visit their website at https://www.northstills.com/html-sitemap/.
Bruichladdich Distillery Details
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