A lot happened in the world of whisky during 2023, and with the help of WhiskyCast Community app members, we’ve identified the top ten whisky… Read More
A lot happened in the world of whisky during 2023, and with the help of WhiskyCast Community app members, we’ve identified the top ten whisky stories of the year. Join us as we count them down in the news, then listen as Milam & Greene’s Heather Greene shares her lessons on whisky entrepreneurship in WhiskyCast In-Depth. We’ll also have some of your year-end dramming choices in our Community segment, too.
Anyone can blend one whisky, but to blend a whisky with long-term consistency between batches takes a true talent. This week, we’ll share an informal… Read More
Anyone can blend one whisky, but to blend a whisky with long-term consistency between batches takes a true talent. This week, we’ll share an informal blending session with Widow Jane head distiller and blender Sierra Jevremov on WhiskyCast In-Depth, along with tasting notes for Widow Jane’s latest release, The Vaults 15-year-old Bourbon. In the news, Kentucky is getting a massive new distillery project, while we were on hand as The Hearach single malt from Isle of Harris Distillery made its U.S. debut in New York City Thursday night. We’ll have tasting notes for that one, too, along with the new Glenglassaugh 12-year-old and Bruichladdich’s Octomore 14.3 single malts.
Distillers around Scotland are teaming up to help the country’s youth through the Distillers’ Charity One of One Auction on October 5. 39 one-of-a-kind bottles… Read More
Distillers around Scotland are teaming up to help the country’s youth through the Distillers’ Charity One of One Auction on October 5. 39 one-of-a-kind bottles will go on the auction block to raise money for the Charity’s Youth Action Fund, including the debut bottling of Kandoblanc from Studio Dhavall Gandhi. We’ll talk with Dhavall and the charity’s managing director, Beanie Geraedts-Espey on this week’s WhiskyCast In-Depth. In the news, we’ll have details on new releases from Bruichladdich, Jack Daniel’s, and Tomatin, just to name a few.
Welcome to Inbox, our weekly round up of whisky news and PR material that has found its way in to our WFE email. It was created as we cannot write full articles or do justice to every piece received. It features items from around the world of whisky an…
Welcome to Inbox, our weekly round up of whisky news and PR material that has found its way in to our WFE email. It was created as we cannot write full articles or do justice to every piece received. It features items from around the world of whisky and is published by us each Friday. Within Inbox we aim to write a few lines detailing each press release/piece of news/PR event that we have received and provide links, where possible, for you to find out further information.
Here is the round-up of the news from this week.
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Bruichladdich
The Islay distillery of Bruichladdich has announced the latest release of its super peated Octomore expression - the Octomore 13.4. The new whisky completes the 13th edition of the popular series. The spirit was made using heavily peated Concerto barley grown in Scotland and has been matured for five years in first-fill ex-bourbon and American virgin oak casks. It is bottled at the natural cask strength of 61.6% ABV and registers a peating level of 137.3 PPM. Octomore 13.4 is a distillery exclusive and is only available at the distillery shop and via the Bruichladdich website. The exact number of bottles was not revealed but each will cost £170.
"Completing the Octomore 13 series, the 13.4 edition once more demonstrates the delicate balance of intense peat smoke with our elegant signature style. The maturation profile combined with strong peat levels and cask strength has resulted in a complex single malt."
Adam Hannett / Head Distiller at Bruichladdich.
Heaven Hill
The American whiskey brand of Heaven Hill has announced the latest bottling in its annual limited edition Heritage Collection series - the Heaven Hill Heritage Collection 2023 Edition. This year's release is a Kentucky Straight Corn Whiskey bottled at 20 years of age. All spirit was distilled in October 2002 using a mashbill of 80% corn, 12% malted barley and 8% rye.
The new whiskey is made up of some of the Kentucky distillery's oldest stock and is created from 110 American oak casks. The rare bottling will be available from selected specialist whiskey retailers throughout the USA from March. The Heaven Hill Heritage Collection 2023 Edition is bottled at 57.5% ABV (115 Proof) and will cost $US290.
Powers
The Irish brand of Powers has announced the launch of the first ever whiskey made from 100% Irish rye. The release comes following trials at the Midleton distillery in Co. Cork and has used an archive recipe uncovered by Carol Quinn, the Senior Achivist at Irish Distillers. The company commissioned planting of rye at Cooney Furlong Farm in Co. Wexford, which was chosen due to its proximity to the ancestral home of the Powers family - Edermine House.
Powers Irish Rye is bottled at 43.2% ABV and will be initially released through specialist retailers in selected markets including Ireland, the UK and the USA. It will also be available in Dublin Airport and via www.powerswhiskey.com. A bottle will cost €40/ £32/ $US32.
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Bruichladdich knows how to usher in fall, hello Octomore 13.2. The mornings and evenings carry a crispness, the leaves are falling as fast as the temperature and my glencairns are carrying more and more peated whiskey in them – well. more than usual anyway. This is my favorite time of the year. And this year, […]
Bruichladdich knows how to usher in fall, hello Octomore 13.2. The mornings and evenings carry a crispness, the leaves are falling as fast as the temperature and my glencairns are carrying more and more peated whiskey in them – well. more than usual anyway. This is my favorite time of the year.
And this year, something special is happening with one of my favorite peated whiskies out there… sherry. The 13.2 isn’t finished in sherry, it’s spent its entire 5+ years maturing in ex-Oloroso casks which, just the thought of, has me drooling.
Let’s get to drinkin’ and see if what’s in the glass is as good as the visions of sherry+smoky whisky dancing in my head.
Octomore 13.2 – Details and Tasting Notes
Whiskey Details
Cask Strength | Non-Chill Filtered | Natural Color
Style: Single Malt (Scotch) Region: Islay, Scotland Distiller: Bruichladdich
“Octomore 13.2 offers an alternative maturation to the structural brilliance delivered by its 13.1 counterpart. In an indulgent point of difference, the five-year-old spirit has spent its entire maturing life in Oloroso butts from Fernando de Castilla, Spain.” – Bruichladdich
Octomore 13.2 Tasting Notes
EYE
Amber
NOSE
Peat, strawberry shortcake, orange peels, buttercream frosting, toffee and a touch of sulfur and leather.
Deep and velvety, I could sit and sniff this for days.
PALATE
Earthy peat, dried strawberries, vanilla taffy, toffee, cocoa powder, clove, anise, touch of sulfur and leather.
But if I did sniff it for days then I wouldn’t get to experience this fantastic palate.
FINISH
Long -> Peat, dried strawberries, spice and a touch of sulfur.
BALANCE, BODY and FEEL
Well-balanced, full-bodied, heavy velvety texture.
Octomore 13.2 – Overall Thoughts and Score
When “peat n’ sweet with a touch of sulfur” is done right it creates a multifaceted profile that can’t be beat. And hitting that chord just right is exactly what Bruichladdich have done here. This might be my favorite Octomore ever.
There are other releases that come close, but there is richness, balance, and elegance in this one that truly begets the term “gentle giant”. It hits that perfect balance of sweetness and earthiness that keeps me coming back for more. It’s going to take some restraint to make this Octomore 13.2 last through the winter.
*Disclosure: The bottle for this Scotch review was graciously sent to me by the company without obligation. The views, opinions, and tasting notes are 100% my own.
We first covered news of Limavady Irish whiskey last August with its U.S. debut, and recently caught up with Limavady owner Darryl McNally to talk about what separates this Irish expression from others on the shelf. Though new and without a distillery (yet), Limavady has made an impressive debut, with its Single Barrel whiskey scoring 91 points in our Winter 2021 Buying Guide.
Among this week’s new whiskies, Kentucky Owl is back with a special St. Patrick’s Day bourbon, Octomore has a new, decade-old release, and Penelope pivots away from bourbon in favor of an aged, light whiskey. Read on for full details.
A week after our Peated Bruichladdich Part 1, we gathered for Part 2. And like last time we all arrived with our samples in tow and after the usual hi-hello pleasantries we got down to business. Just like we’re about to do with this recap. I mean it, no long preamble or anything. We all […]
A week after our Peated Bruichladdich Part 1, we gathered for Part 2. And like last time we all arrived with our samples in tow and after the usual hi-hello pleasantries we got down to business. Just like we’re about to do with this recap.
I mean it, no long preamble or anything. We all know and love peated Bruichladdich. So let’s get to it.
Peated Bruichladdich Part 2 – Pre
Pre 1: Bruichladdich Port Charlotte PC 10: 46%
Nose: Honied fruit, smoke, graham, cocoa and a light BBQ sweetness.
Palate: Medicinal, fruity, smoke, plastic, malt.
Finish: Long -> Medicinal, fruity, tannic
Overall: (3 / 5) Nice and sweet with a great medicinal kick that compliments perfectly.
Nose: Plasticy smoke, malty, cocoa, hay, spice and mint.
Palate: Candy, fruity, malty, smokey.
Finish: Long -> Honied fruit, spice and smoke.
Overall: (3 / 5) Not bad… not bad at all. In fact, I rather like it.
Post-Reveal Commentary: Old PC 10 vs new PC 10 = Both tasty. I don’t have anything to complain about.
Peated Bruichladdich Part 2 – Round 1
1A: Elements Of Islay PI5: 63.1%
Nose: Vanilla, smoke, malt, fruit, cocoa, ash and saline.
Palate: Floral, herbal, smoke, fruit, saline.
Finish: Long -> Floral, smoke and malt.
Overall: (3 / 5) Soft and light, as soft and light as peated Bruichladdich gets, but wonderfully interesting.
1B: Boutique-y Port Charlotte Batch 5: 51.1%
Nose: Smoke, malt, olde candy, ash, wine and caramel.
Palate: Smoke, charred fruit, candy sweetness, graham and a touch vomity.
Finish: Long -> Sulfur, smoke, char and a bit of vomit.
Overall: (2 / 5) Reading my notes it sounds awful, but it weirdly isn’t utter dreck. It’s not great, but in a weird way it’s kinda interesting and I don’t loathe it as much as I should.
Post-Reveal Commentary: I’ve never been a massive fan of Boutique-y whisky picks and the trend continues. Though why do I keep wanting to taste it again?…
Peated Bruichladdich Part 2 – Round 2
2A: Malts of Scotland Lochindaal 12 years (07-19): 58.1% – ex-Bourbon
Overall: (1 / 5) What is going on with this round… this is not a fun round so far. Blegh, this is awful.
2C: SMWS 127.36 Bruichladdich 11 Years (02-13): 63.2% – ex-Bourbon
Nose: BBQ smoke, fruit, honey, herbal spice, hay and malt.
Palate: BBQ smoke, fruit, honey, herbal spice, hay and malt with touches of soap.
Finish: Long -> Smoke, malt and a touch of soap.
Overall: (3 / 5) I don’t know if it’s the juxtaposition to the vomit twins 2A & B, but I’m enjoying this one quite a bit despite the light soapy notes.
2D: Whisky-Fassle Bruichladdich Port Charlotte 10 years (08-19): 62.7% – ex-Bourbon
Finish: Long -> Smoke, BBQ sweetness, olde candy and menthol.
Overall: (3.5 / 5) Not your typical peated Bruichladdich profile, but it’s nice.
2E: Chorlton Whisky Port Charlotte 15 years: 54.9% – ex-Bourbon
Nose: Candy sweetness, smoke, char, honey, malt, nuts and brine.
Palate: Nuts, smoke, wood, char and malt with bits of graham, fruit and cocoa.
Finish: Long -> Funky sweet and oaky smoke with some spice.
Overall: (4 / 5) Wow, this is delicious. It’s by far the best of the night.
Post-Reveal Commentary: 2A and 2B are some of the worst Bruichladdich I’ve ever had. And what’s even sadder is that I have a bottle of 2B sitting at home, unopened. I’m now dreading opening what seems like an utter waste of money because it was just awful. The second half of the round though made up for it. They were all delicious and I’d love to have taken home that Chorlton!
Palate: Grape nuts, sulfur, buttered popcorn jelly beans and vomit.
Finish: Long -> Funky, smoky, vomity.
Overall: (1.5 / 5) This profile again? What the hell is going on with some of these releases?
3C: Bruichladdich Port Charlotte OLC 01: 55.1% – X Cask
Nose: Fruit, oak, smoke, malt and toffee.
Palate: Sweetly fruity, smoke, malt, dark sweets and spice.
Finish: Long -> Malt, fruit and smoke.Overall: (3 / 5) Tasty. Fun. Good. A nice way to end the tasting.
Post-Reveal Commentary: A better round than 2 for sure, but man, when that vomity note hits hard, it’s just obscenely unpleasant. I don’t mind it in the background, it’s in a lot of Bruichladdich, but when it moves up like this… yikes.
After this tasting, I’m feeling less sure about single casks of peated Bruichladdich, though not by much. Instead of being 100% sure on them, I’m down to about 85% sure, which means I’ll still be buying them, though not from Alexander Murray and Boutique-Y. I’ve been burned by them too many times. Though this does make me wonder…
The vomity note is a light background note in a lot of Bruichladdich, including OBs, but what if they’re letting the really funky ones out to the IBs? Maybe having the IBs be hit-or-miss is a distillery tactic to keep people coming back to the OBs? It could work, but that would take a ton of work so that’s of course silly and cynical… but then again…
Despite some of the major letdowns of this round, it was still a great tasting all-in-all and it was immeasurably educational to try those awful Bruichladdich SiBs, to dive into the shallow end of the pool and see what it’s like when things go wrong. Though, obviously, more of it went right. Especially that Chorlton.
Sweeter and smokier than 10.1 and a nice addition of both tropical and stone fruits, I don’t think I’d have picked out the Sauternes influence here but in my defence Octomore’s are pretty robust spirit to begin with! 88/100
Sweeter and smokier than 10.1 and a nice addition of both tropical and stone fruits, I don't think I'd have picked out the Sauternes influence here but in my defence Octomore's are pretty robust spirit to begin with! 88/100
The Octomore 12.3 closes us out on this year’s Octomore releases, and what a way to end it. Made from a mix of ex-Bourbon (75%) and ex-PX (25%) casks, this whisky is something of an anomaly in the Bruichladdich world because of its use of sherry. They don’t avoid it because they don’t like it, […]
The Octomore 12.3 closes us out on this year’s Octomore releases, and what a way to end it. Made from a mix of ex-Bourbon (75%) and ex-PX (25%) casks, this whisky is something of an anomaly in the Bruichladdich world because of its use of sherry.
They don’t avoid it because they don’t like it, but because they’re picky about casks. Most sherry casks these days are just “sherry treated” casks and not true sherry casks, and Bruichladdich won’t use “sherry treated”. This is why sherried, OB, Bruichladdich is so rare.
This all changed when they partnered with the Fernando De Castilla bodega and began gaining access to true sherry casks. Casks FDC only lets go of once they’re done being used in their solera which does mean there isn’t exactly a plethora of them on the market but does mean the quality is pretty high. This all sounds nice, but the question is, does pickiness pay off? Let’s get to drinkin’ and find out.
Cask Strength | Non-Chill Filtered | Natural Color
Price: $190*
“The PX casks bring a luxurious dried fruit style, sweet and rich. This layers beautifully with the rich phenols and light marine notes.” – Bruichladdich
Tasting Notes
EYE
Gold
NOSE
Smoke, grilled pears, salty minerality, dried orchard fruit, vanilla candy, honey nut cheerios and some dessert spices and malt.
Octomore 12.3 has a wonderful coastal quality that really sets it apart from the 12.1 and 12.2 on the aroma.
There is so much weight in this palate it’s ridiculous. It’s like an earthy-peaty-sweet-and-spiced syrup.
FINISH
Long -> Smoke, toffee, fruit and honey fade out a bit oaky.
BALANCE, BODY and FEEL
Well balanced, full-round body and a heavy oily feel.
Octomore 12.3 – Overall Thoughts and Score
Hints of butterscotch peek through on the aroma as it opens and it seems to get a bit lighter. The palate on the other hand just keeps getting heavier, like it’s creating its own gravity. This is a dynamic and dense whisky. The weight of it is astounding.
I’m used to Octomore being a bit “fresher”, a bit lighter, a bit more spirit-forward, but this Octomore 12.3 is kind of the opposite of that. Water does lighten it up a bit by bringing the fruit a bit more forward, but the layers of dark sweetness and earthiness never relent, and I love it.
SCORE: 4.5/5
*Disclosure: The sample for this Scotch review was graciously sent to me by the company without obligation. The views, opinions, and tasting notes are 100% my own.
Octomore 12.3 Review
$190
Summary
The more time this gets to open the better it gets. This is a warm, bold and dynamic whisky that expertly walks the line of complex vs overwhelming.
Next up is the Octomore 12.2, which starts with 50% of the spirit being aged in 1st-fill ex-Bourbon casks and 50% in 2nd-fill ex-Bourbon casks. After about 3 years of maturation in these casks, the spirit was blended together and left to marry, mature and finish for about 2 years in 1st-fill ex-Sauternes casks. This […]
Next up is the Octomore 12.2, which starts with 50% of the spirit being aged in 1st-fill ex-Bourbon casks and 50% in 2nd-fill ex-Bourbon casks. After about 3 years of maturation in these casks, the spirit was blended together and left to marry, mature and finish for about 2 years in 1st-fill ex-Sauternes casks.
This is a throwback to the 4.2, the Comus, and unlike most years, will be available in the mass market and not just travel retail. This is a big shift for Bruichladdich and a boon to fans who typically have to snag a plane ticket or beg a traveling friend to look for it.
Cask Strength | Non-Chill Filtered | Natural Color
Price: $160*
“The Sauternes casks brings another dimension to the vitality of Octomore. The honey-soaked fruit and dry smoke work beautifully together; that classic combination of smoke and sweet fruit delivers beautifully again.” – Bruichladdich
Tasting Notes
EYE
Amberish gold
NOSE
Smoke, vanilla frosting , fruit cake, dried orchard fruit, honey, white raisins, earthy hay-like malt, herbal spice and a touch of minerality.
There is a juicy quality to it that’s very enjoyable and pairs well with the earthier notes.
PALATE
Smoke, sweet BBQ, toffee, white raisins, dried fruit, earthy hay-like malt, baking spices and a touch of sweet tobacco and herbal.
The darker notes continue to surface as it opens and after a while the Octomore 12.2 comes across like a dark and fruity, balanced, combo of peat-n-sweet.
FINISH
Long -> Peat, toffee, dried fruit, herbal spice and a touch of toffee.
BALANCE, BODY and FEEL
Well balanced, full body and a warm oily feel.
Octomore 12.2 – Overall Thoughts and Score
With a bit of air and time some dark, sweet, baked qualities – like caramel frosted scones – surface on the aroma and the same, but fruitier, happens on the palate. It moves and morphs into something that’s a little harder to pin down, but never loses its delicious complexity.
This Octomore 12.2 is, in a way, a follow-up to the Comus, which I was able to re-taste at a recent Malt Nuts and I have to say… it’s a worthy “follow-up”. I know a repeat, or even tribute, isn’t exactly what they were going for with the ex-Sauternes usage, but it’s a fair, direct, and complimentary comparison. If you enjoyed 4.2 (Comus), you’ll enjoy this.
SCORE: 4/5
*Disclosure: The sample for this Scotch review was graciously sent to me by the company without obligation. The views, opinions, and tasting notes are 100% my own.
Octomore 12.2 Review
$160
Summary
This is a wonderfully balanced earthy and fruity sweet dram with a peaty wrapper. It’s a fun one to let run through the senses.
