Bruichladdich Octomore 10.4

A bright and richly-flavored Octomore aged in virgin Limosin oak.

The Bruichladdich Distillery is very impressive. In 1881 the Harvey brothers — who came from a Whisky family dynasty — built a cathedral-like, state-of-the-art Victorian still house with unheard-of 6-meter tall stills. Now owned by Remy Cointreau, the distillery remains pretty much the same as it has for more than 100 years. They proudly practice slow fermentation and slow distillation using traditional wooden vats and huge washes made from towering Douglas Fir. The distillery produces non-peated Bruichladdich Single Malt, Port Charlotte which is peated in the classic Islay style, the heavily peated Octomore, and The Botanist Islay Dry Gin.

Bruichladdich makes a LOT of fine, Islay Single Malt Whisky. But the one that gets all the attention is their line of heavily-peated Octomore Spirits. Whenever we are attending a Spirits industry event or tasting, if the name Bruichladdich is mentioned, heads nod in silent appreciation and the word "Octomore" is whispered in unison.

At three years, Bruichladdich Octomore 10.4 is the youngest Octomore ever released. But paradoxically it is also one of the best. And the reason for that is that all of those three years are spent in dark-toasted, virgin Limosin oak. If you are a fan of Scottish drams, you know that virgin barrels are a bit rare these days. Importantly, this limited edition release is comprised of just twenty-eight casks peated to 88 phenol ppm and bottled at 63.5% ABV without chill-filtration or artificial coloring.