|
|
Release Notes
The world's most heavily peated whisky, this is the sixth edition of the uber-experimental cult Octomore.
Titanic amounts of peat but with a light, delicate complexity and a beguiling finesse. Young, yet eminently mature, it defies us. It remains an enigma. We embrace that.
Here, we pay tribute to its pedigree, to the land from which it came and the raw materials that gave it life: Octomore Scottish Barley.
We believe challenging convention matters.
Titanic amounts of peat but with a light, delicate complexity and a beguiling finesse. Young, yet eminently mature, it defies us. It remains an enigma. We embrace that.
Here, we pay tribute to its pedigree, to the land from which it came and the raw materials that gave it life: Octomore Scottish Barley.
We believe challenging convention matters.
Bruichladdich
3rd Party Tasting Notes
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.
Palate: 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 warmth in your heart and the spirit in your soul.
Palate: 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 warmth in your heart and the spirit in your soul.
Bruichladdich
Well.... Having tried a couple of the expressions of Octomore in the past at a rather nice whisky bar, I finally took the plunge and bought my. Own bottle. I bought the latest release, the 6.1. This is peated to 167 ppm, and comes in the most exquisitely designed packaging.
Right. Let's cut to the chase.
I was expecting aggressive Bonfire smoke and deep, meaty peat. What I had forgotten, however was the wonderful lightness and delicacy which also comes across.
Nose Malt, leather, perhaps some jeyes fluid, and a little medicinal... Something sweet also, maybe a little melon. Floating above all of this is almost a slight cheese aroma, and then of course the peat smoke... Not the uppercut to the face you would expect. But it's definitely there.
Palate This stuff just fills the mouth. Fills every crevice. Almost creamy, thick. A real joy to tease across your tongue. This time smoky, peaty, bonfire. Not as aggressive again as you may expect, but wow. Its definitely powerful. Aside from that though, it's deceptively delicate. There are some really light, almost floral notes. Maybe a little fruit too. Hard to describe. The peat is definitely the overwhelming flavour. My palate may not be developed enough to identify the other flavours. A real joy tho. Absolutely incredible. We've just had a thunderstorm here.... And I can tell you, the experience of relaxing with this whisky, watching the downpour, and the lightning... Amazing.
Finish. Long. What do you expect? Tongue coated with wave after wave of peat. Lovely.
Right. Let's cut to the chase.
I was expecting aggressive Bonfire smoke and deep, meaty peat. What I had forgotten, however was the wonderful lightness and delicacy which also comes across.
Nose Malt, leather, perhaps some jeyes fluid, and a little medicinal... Something sweet also, maybe a little melon. Floating above all of this is almost a slight cheese aroma, and then of course the peat smoke... Not the uppercut to the face you would expect. But it's definitely there.
Palate This stuff just fills the mouth. Fills every crevice. Almost creamy, thick. A real joy to tease across your tongue. This time smoky, peaty, bonfire. Not as aggressive again as you may expect, but wow. Its definitely powerful. Aside from that though, it's deceptively delicate. There are some really light, almost floral notes. Maybe a little fruit too. Hard to describe. The peat is definitely the overwhelming flavour. My palate may not be developed enough to identify the other flavours. A real joy tho. Absolutely incredible. We've just had a thunderstorm here.... And I can tell you, the experience of relaxing with this whisky, watching the downpour, and the lightning... Amazing.
Finish. Long. What do you expect? Tongue coated with wave after wave of peat. Lovely.
Cynter, Connosr.com
The Distillery: Bruichladdich
| Established: 1881 |
| Silent since: False |
| Address: Bruichladdich, Islay, Argyll, PA49 7UNI, UK |
| → website |
In the new Millenium
The Bruichladdich distillery lies on the north shore of Lochindaal (directly opposite Bowmore), which made it the westernmost distillery in Scotland until Kilchoman was officially opened in 2005.
The overwhelming succes that Mark and Jim have had with the bottlings they released from these old stocks is a perfect illustration of the crucial role of careful cask selection; Bruichladdich was transformed from an ugly duckling into a swan. Well, I"m sure clever marketing also helped.
Apart from the traditionally lightly peated spirit that is still produced under the name Bruichladdich, two more heavily peated malts are being produced at the distillery. A heavily peated (40 PPM) malt under the name "Port Charlotte" (the name of the village two miles south of the distillery) is being produced since October 2002 and they also have an even more heavily peated (80.5 PPM) malt with the name "Octomore". This is the name of another silent Islay distillery in the area, situated in a farm next to the warehouses of the old Lochindaal distillery. The original Octomore distillery was closed in 1852, three decades before Bruichladdich was built. However, a link with the past remains; Bruichladdich uses spring water from Octomore farm.
The Bruichladdich distillery was mothballed again in January 1995 and sold in 2000 to a consortium of twenty five different shareholders that operated under the name "Bruichladdich Distillery Co. Ltd.".
Driving force behind the purchase was Murray McDavid"s Mark Reynier. Together with other seasoned professionals like Jim McEwan (formerly of Bowmore) they managed to get the production started again in May 2001. Although that new spirit probably won"t be widely available until well after 2010, the new owners also acquired a lot of maturing stocks that were laid down by Invergordon and JBB / Whyte & Mackay.
Bruichladdich was constructed in 1881 by Robert, William and John Gourlay Harvey. Members of the Harvey family remained owners and shareholders until 1929 when the Bruichladdich distillery was mothballed.
In 1938 Bruichladdich (also known as Bruichladdie) was sold to Hatim Attari, Joheph W.Hobbs and Alexander W.Tolmie. And the distillery kept changing hands like a hot potato. In 1952 it was sold to Ross & Coulter Ltd, who in turn sold it to A.B. Grant in 1960. Invergordon Distillers acquired Bruichladdich in 1968 and expanded the number of stills from two to four in 1975, before selling it on to JBB / Whyte & Mackay.
Until recently Associated Scottish Distillers also offered a so-called "bastard" bottling of Bruichladdich under the name Loch Indaal or Lochindaal. This bottle was named after the old Lochindaal distillery located East of the village of Port Charlotte, which used to have its own distilleries. Lochindaal operated until 1929 when it was dismantled. Its warehouses are now used to store the Port Charlotte malt. Until recently Bruichladdich was the only surviving distillery on the Western peninsula, but since the new Kilchoman distillery was opened in 2005 by proprietor Anthony Willis the number of western Islay distilleries doubled.
And the future looks bright for the friendly people of Bruichladdich. With the new bottling plant that was opened in 2003, Bruichladdich can now bottle its own malts on site, providing some much needed employment opportunities on this relatively remote part of Islay in the process. It"s much more convenient for Bruichladdich as well; before they opened the bottling plant they shipped tankers full of spring water from James Brown"s farm at Octomore to the mainland to dilute the whisky from the casks to 46%.
2000 - At the start of the new millennium the Bruichladdich distillery is bought by bottler Murray McDavid. Reports say that the price of the distillery was 6,500,000 GBP at the time - including maturing stocks.
2001 - The driving force behind the purchase of the distillery was Murray McDavid"s Mark Reynier. Shortly after the distillery was obtained by the new owners, Bowmore"s Jim McEwan was called in as production director.
2006 - The first bottling of Port Charlotte is released; a more heavily peated brand of the Bruichladdich.
2012 - On September 3rd the distillery is sold to Rémy Cointreau.
Trivia:
- For their first new bottlings the new owners used extremely lightly peated barley of 2 PPM.
- William Harvey (the father of the Harvey brothers that built Bruichladdich in 1881) was the owner of two other distilleries; Yoker and Dundashill.
- Bruichladdich distillery is open to visitors all year, Monday to Friday. Tours are available at 10.30am 11.30am and 2.30am (and at 10.30am on Summer Saturdays).
- Bruichladdich is one of almost two dozen malt whisky distilleries that were founded over a century ago during the "whisky boom" of the late 19th century and which have managed to survive until this day. The other survivors include Aberfeldy, Ardmore, Aultmore, Balvenie, Benriach, Benromach, Bunnahabhain, Craigellachie, Dalwhinnie, Dufftown, Glendullan, Glenfiddich, Glenrothes, Glentauchers, Knockandu, Knockdhu, Longmorn, Tamdhu and Tomatin.
from Malt Maniacs
The Owner: Rémy Cointreau
| Established: 1724 |
| Silent since: False |
| Address: Avenue de Gimeux |
| → website |
Rémy Martin, a wine maker from the Cognac region founded the business in 1724. It was acquired by Andre Renaud in 1924. Through various acquisitions the company took ownership of champagne brands such as Charles Heidsieck and Piper Heidsieck, Mount Gay Rum. In 1991 the company changed name to Rémy Cointreau. Since then the group as acquired the Bols and Metaxa brands. On September 3rd the group acquires Bruichladdich distillery on Islay.
from Various