Tasting Notes

Producing WhiskyCast has given me the opportunity to taste some really amazing whiskies, and I’m pleased to share my tasting notes with you here. You can search my entire database of tasting notes from this page, and I hope you’ll find it useful.

Bruichladdich Octomore 6.1

Country: Scotland

Region: Islay

Type: Single Malt

Bottler: Distiller

ABV: 57%

Score: 93 Points

Octomore 6.1 Scottish Barley Islay Single Malt. Image courtesy Bruichladdich. When this was released, it was the world’s most heavily-peated single malt whisky at 167 ppm of phenols. It has since been eclipsed by Octomore 6.3 (258 ppm) in peatiness, but peat isn’t everything where this whisky is concerned.

The nose is peaty as expected, but still full-bodied with notes of seaweed, briny wet sand, a hint of heather, lemon zest, and black pepper. The taste is intense and powerful with peat smoke, charcoal ashes, and black pepper…but more subtle notes are still apparent, including malt, vanilla, hints of stewed fruits, and a touch of nutty bread. The finish is long, smoky, and warming with peat smoke, lingering pepperiness, hints of nutty bread, vanilla, and dark chocolate. A winner! (March, 2015)