Octomore farm sits on a hill overlooking the village of Port Charlotte on the Isle of Islay. In 1816, the tenant, George Montgomery built a small distillery. The distilling business never fully took off and produced little whisky in the short time of operation. Unfortunately, needless sibling rivalry, hunger and death put and end to the endeavor before it even had a chance. Although farming has always been difficult in the Hebrides, Octomore Farm now grows barley for Briuchladdich’s 100% Islay Barley expressions.
Bruichladdich’s super heavily peated Octomore series has developed a massive cult following since its first expression was released in 2002. Their combination of intense peat and fruity, floral spirit created by the tall, narrow-necked stills has captured the attention of whisky enthusiast around the globe. With relatively short maturation times, the Octomore series is mainly spirit forward and although insanely high peat levels (ppm), they are incredibly complex and intriguing expressions.
Octomore 6.3 Islay Barley was distilled using 100% Islay Barley grown and harvested by farmer James Brown at Lorgba, which is a field on Octomore farm. The barley was saturated with peat to an incredible 258 ppm, the highest ever released in the whisky industry. It is non-chill filtered and no colour added and matured for 5 short years. Here is my take!
Bottled at 64% ABV!
Nose: Sea salt, mint, heather, and peat for days!
Palate: Peat fire, red grapes, cherries, dark chocolate, and oak spices.
Finish: Long and lingering. Like a long satisfying exhale of Islay.