Nothing in the Terms shall exclude or limit our liability for fraudulent misrepresentation or for death or personal injury resulting from gross negligence or willful misconduct by us. It is closely related to Octomore 10.1 and it’s interesting compare both and look for differences that must be owed to the barley’s specific location. If any provision of these Terms is held invalid, the remainder of the Terms shall continue in full force and effect. Islay is far from the ideal place to grow barley. This small Hebridean island off the west coast of Scotland is usually cold, windswept, salt-washed, rain-sodden and/or overcast, which aside from other problems & challenges results in lower yields, which means less income for the farmer, and less barley for the distillery. But the use of Islay-grown barley is a choice that goes beyond such considerations - remember that out of nine distilleries only Bruichladdich and Kilchoman are doing this - and is more about provenance and terroir, the use of local ingredients, a sense of place, and also a sense of community. It is easier, cheaper and more efficient to use barley sourced from the Scottish mainland, or even other countries, and that is far & away what the majority of Scottish distilleries are doing. The idea of using Islay-grown barley in heavily peated whiskies like Octomore gets even further away from that efficiency and financial pressure, since such high peating levels make it more difficult to detect any overt differences in the finished product that are (or may be) due to the barley itself. But there's no arguing with the provenance provided by the use of locally grown barley. While Islay barley varieties of both Bruichladdich and Port Charlotte use barley grown on a number of different farms on the island, the distillery takes this a step further with their Octomore Islay barley bottlings, sourcing the barley from a single field from one single Islay farm - James Brown's Octomore farm, once home to the Octomore Distillery that was the inspiration for the name of this super-heavily peated single malt.

Octomore 11.1, 11.3 and the 10 Year (2020) (image via Bruichladdich) Tasting Notes: Bruichladdich Octomore Edition 11.1 Now, I don’t care what numbers are on the bottle. 100 ppm or 300 ppm – I couldn’t care less, but what I crave in a dram of Octomore is an intensity of experience that nothing in the world of Scotch whisky can match. The memory of my first sip of this stuff will stay with me ’til the day I die but sadly, I suspect I will forget batch 10 within a few months. That doesn’t mean it is bad whisky, it most certainly isn’t, it’s just a new interpretation of this dram that doesn’t quite chime with me. I have to commend Bruichladdich for trying new things with it, but this one wouldn’t have me reaching for my wallet. Maybe the next one will. I’ve tasted virgin oak Octomore before – in fact, I had a secret one, which I talked about here– and it does amuse me to see the new wave of whisky folk, eagerly engaging with the community, still surprised at such specimens as virgin oak. It’s probably not surprising when you think about it, given the awful cask being shoved around the industry at the moment. Someone recently said to me that a colleague of theirs had been offered a seventh – yes, SEVENTH, I kid you not – fill cask. (What kind of world are we living in when this is doing the rounds, will inevitably be bottled, and some folk will be sitting there nosing the glass thinking yes I spent money on this?) Indeed, fans will know by now that their beloved Ochdamh-mòr has so many faces. Once a straightforward peat monster, its sole purpose of subverting expectations has turned it into an entirely different beast. With the Octomore 10 Series, we basically have U2 going through its Achtung Baby–Zooropa phase. On the nose: we’re off with some weird citrus, lychee, tropical Octomore here, Octomore in linen shorts and flip-flops, even hints of some smokey Mezcal. Lime marmalade, mango, Lapsang souchong, smoked oysters; haybarns. This does not compute.After a balanced 'smoke & sweet', we had the chance to taste the Octomore 10.3, the distillery's most local whisky to date. Bruichladdich wants to one of the first distilleries (after Kilchoman) to produce whiskies entirely on Islay, which means it would be a 100% Islay whisky: from growing the barley to malting (expected in 2023) to bottling the whisky. Even better, they want to be the first decarbonized distillery (expected in 2025). These people know what's important! The series has gone through many changes and the only consistent rule seems to be: there are rules but we’ll make them up as we go along and change them whenever we like. While Bruichladdich and Port Charlotte leave their experiments as one-offs, it’s just another day in the office for the Octomores. However, no longer are Bruichladdich intent on turning the peat dial past 11 and this batch of Octomores are perhaps the most gentle monsters they have released. And if their almost-regular blind tasting sessions are anything to go by, you can more or less throw any prior knowledge out the window.

Unless mandatory applicable law provides otherwise, your use of and membership to the Service are exclusively governed by Dutch law. We shall first try to settle any dispute over a dram of whisky. Disputes that cannot be settled over multiple drams of whisky shall be solely submitted to the court of Amsterdam, The Netherlands unless mandatory applicable law provides otherwise. The 10.3 Islay Barley, as the name suggests, gets its malt from Islay itself – from local farmer James Brown’s 2012 harvest. This bottle also marks the first time that the .3 in the range breaks from the 5-year maturation; 10.3 spends six years in ex-bourbon casks and alongside the casks that held 10.1 – so this is an interesting side by side. Literally. And indeed it doesn’t disappoint: for whatever reason, this is a 10.1 that is far more intense on all fronts, with a distinct earthy character at its core. Distilled from the exceptional 2012 crop, the Octomore 10.3 pushes the boundaries of whisky-making. Aged for six years exclusively in ex-American oak casks, this spirit offers a truly unique flavor profile that sets it apart from the rest.

Whisky reviews for Octomore Edition 10.3 διάλογος / 114 PPM

Colour! When I posted the photos online, all four of these bad boys lined up together, more than a few people pointed at the one on the right, which was 10.4, and gasped at how a 3 year old whisky could have so much colour. I suppose I should highlight the fact that one of the PR hooks was that this contained one of the youngest Octomores released. A baby whisky, at 3 years old. There was a note with the press material to ignore the usual stuff and taste these blind, which is all the nudging I need to do less research and in fact go off on my own tangent. There was something about these being less peated Octomores, which for the world’s most heavily peated whiskies – that bar-room joke (“They want peat, all right then…”) that got out of hand and became a longstanding product range – is an interesting side-step. I’m sure there was some reasoning, but as I have been informed to look away from the usual information, a tangent it is. The wine casks are not really my friend, even when they’re not overdone. I prefer the clean, sweet roundness of the bourbon barrels . I’m sure some will find this richer and more of a campfire dram though. This is an online exclusive: available from the Bruichladdich webshop. First, what I do with all the Bruichladdich series at the moment, is to mix them all in one glass, just to see if the different cask types, vintages, peating levels and so on can contribute to something greater, more complex. And yes, it does: massively so in fact. A dash of the virgin oak brings plenty of colour too, not to mention another dimension, so use it sparingly. But then again, that’s perhaps the point as I raised above: a dash, no more, to give some ruddiness to its cheeks.

No partnership, joint venture, agency, or employment relationship is created as a result of your use of the Service. Named after a farm that once housed a distillery of its own on the hillside above Port Charlotte on the isle of Islay, this super-heavily peated whisky was first distilled on the 23rd of September 2002. The first bottling arrived in 2008, malted to a peating level of 80.5 ppm. By the 2nd edition, it had reached 140 ppm. The 6th and 7th achieved 258 ppm and the 08.3 bottling came in at a whopping 309.1 ppm. We deliver to a number of international destinations including the USA. Please use the 'Change Location' link above for an estimate in your local currency or find out more about international delivery If you are familiar with the Progressive Hebridean Distilleries, you probably know that they apply a "What If" philosophy towards the entire whisky-making progress. They start with the choice of barley and the choice of farm land, and they continue with their experimental, but very straightforward, approach during every step of the distilling process. Taste: Spicy arrival with notes of pepper, cloves and nutmeg. Fairly dry as well. More peaty than smoky, the inverted experience of the nose, although that bonfire note does peak through on the palate every once in a while. A touch of shoe polish as well.

Octomore 10.3 6 yo 2013 (61,3%, OB 2019, 24000 btl.)

Finish: Medium length. Spicy & peaty to start with, then fresh & bright again. More lemonade, fresh hay, barley husks. Like eating a handful of the freshly ground grist straight from Bruichladdich's mill. More pastry, some drying sea shells and a little rubber to end. Finish: long but somehow less than the others. Hints of burnt rosemary, kippers and lean peat smoke. Smell: Barley flour, cereal and sawdust. Vanilla. Caramel. Orange & lemon. Pineapple. Smoky bacon. Burning straw. Coal cinders. Liquorice.

Parcel 2 was filled into ex-American oak and transferred to Cabernet Sauvignon barriques from the Saint Julien region – 75% Distillery: .Salt on the lips and more honey and lemon on the palate, then the peat sweeps in with the oak and heat from the high strength. Deeper flavours from the spirit, pear and gooseberry are more defined and richer. A great Octomore with a perfect balance of vanilla sweetness and savoury, smoked bacon. A fairly naked but clean and balanced version. Available from The Whisky Exchange and Master of Malt for instance. For something that was effectively a defiant rebuttal, the fiery Octomore has certainly mellowed, if only just. Our co-editor Justin Choo looks at the Octomore 10 Series. You are responsible for all activities through your account. You are responsible for the accuracy of the information you provide to us in relation to your account, and for updating it where necessary. You are not allowed to create multiple accounts. We may terminate or temporarily suspend your account to protect you, ourselves or our partners from (suspected) identity theft or other (suspected) fraudulent (e.g. false, misleading, deceptive) activity. You have the obligation to keep your login credentials confidential. You shall not authorize any others to use or access your account.

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Finish:Medium long finish. Fiery, peaty, smoky and spicy till the not-bitter-at-all-end. Sweet and delicious. Dark chocolate with a tinge of the green. I’m far from the most knowledgeable, so who am I not to try and honour that request. A small note accompanied the four samples I received from Bruichladdich, suggesting I taste the new Octomore 10s blind. So that’s what I did. And below you’ll find out what I think of each. Nose: Whiffs of resin and rubber are the first aromas to stand out, followed by a deep and rich note of bonfire, unlike I’ve ever experienced in a whisky before. Wood varnish and tobacco leave their impression too, and this has a subtle farmy quality to it as well. Interesting, to say the least. Markedly different than the other three Octomore 10s, let alone other whiskies out there.