Bruichladdich Octomore Edition 06.1_167 57% 2008

Avis professionnels

Serge Valentin (85)

Colour: dark straw.

Nose: starts very, very briny. Nosing a puddle of seawater under the sun, or something like that. Then waves of fresh putty and paint, plasticine, black pepper, cut grass, cigar ashes, coal pile, then more aromatic herbs, thyme, fennel, dill... The complexity is really striking, you’d rather expect this to be huge and one-dimensional, but it isn’t at all. With water: the malted barley comes out, together with touches of yeast and more cola ashes. ‘Visiting the distillery’.

Mouth (neat): wham! Seawater and lemon juice and ashes and orange blossom honey (from the oak?), with an oily mouth feel but no extreme peat. It’s actually rather sweet and even quite jammy. In a way, it’s pretty soft whisky. With water: becomes drier, with more lemon juice and ashes. It lost its roundness and most fruits.

Finish: long, with a clear feeling of raw peated malt and more ashes again in the aftertaste.

Comments: I love Octomore, but I wouldn’t say this one’s my favourite. Maybe that’s because it doesn’t seem to be a perfect swimmer. But hey, it’s still very excellent…

Words of Whisky (88)

BOW (86)

Tasting Notes by Bruichladdich (Jim McEwan, Head Distiller)
Nose
The first waves bring a combination of sea spray, spindrift, wet sea weed and hints of oily iodine. Then peat smoke with cracked black peppercorn and as the spirit reveals itself, stunning notes of heather flowers, lemon balm and water mint. It's like watching a spiritual weaver create a tapestry from the Hebrides itself.
Taste
As the spirit breathes in the glass a subtle change takes place. Rising steadily comes the crisp, malted barley then the sweet oak,giving notes of vanilla, toasted rye bread and walnuts. Add a burst of fresh lime, poached apple and pear from distillation whilst always in the background the steady rhythm of the sea painting pictures in your mind of a people and place who know that single malt is the stuff of life, sustaining them for generations.
Finish
The senses will celebrate this genial, warm, thrilling experience long after the glass is empty. You will know that you have been on a journey by the wamth in your heart and the spirit in your soul.