Bruichladdich Octomore 13.1 Cask Strength Single Malt Scotch Whisky (700ml)

While some prefer Port Charlotte, you have to admit Octomore is rarely ever boring. We're now into the lucky thirteens of what is arguably the most heavily peated whisky in regular production. There are three variants on offer in this batch. 13.1 is a 5 year old (as usual), bourbon-barreled, and peated to 137.8ppm of phenols. Distilled in 2016 from a 2015 harvest, like all the other .1 editions, it's made using Scottish mainland barley. 59.2% Alc./Vol. Non chill filtered.

Other reviews... No surprises here, as this release hits as very sharp and ashy on the nose, punchy with the notes of a big bonfire that’s been piled high with evergreen branches. The palate tempers the smoke a bit with notes of fruit, lemon and apple, oily and mashed into oblivion, then moving into a very briny finish that evokes smoked kippers and iodine, lingering just about forever. All told, there’s no shortage of smoke in the experience from start to finish, making for a fairly typical and traditional expression of this classic whisky, for better or worse. Water’s a plus here. - drinkhacker.com

...137.3ppm in this one. Colour: straw. Nose: immediately softer and fruitier than 12.1, with more lemon tarte, meringue, nectarines, even mangos, vanilla… Even the peat remains discreet, and so do seashells, seaweed and just anything coastal or medicinal. This is very intriguing, I would suppose the American oak was fresher, or at least more active this time. With water: naturally, it goes in the other direction once water has been added, the spirit of contradiction I would suppose. Olive brine, clams, olive oil, seawater, limoncello… Mouth (neat): rather back to big smoke, rubber and seawater, but there's a lot of some kind of grapefruit liqueur, Szechuan pepper, even a feeling of hops. Some deep-smoked India Pale Ale, perhaps… With water: it remains rather fruitier this time, with even more salty citrus, while the background would remain very ashy and drying. Indeed, ashtray-y. Finish: very long, very salty, with some kind of super-margarita. Indeed, a feeling of tequila, how funny is that? Comments: superb once more, but I enjoyed its brother's extreme purity even better. This 13.1 is already 'civilised', I would say. 88 points - whiskyfun.com

Notes from the producers... A viscous texture across the palate, the feeling is of densely smoked grain which comes through like smoked granola with honeyed fruit. A second sip brings the opportunity to decipher the complexity on the palate, with smoked apricot jam, barley flour, peat embers and burnt heather balanced with gooseberry citrus and sweet Turkish delight. Oak chips, sugared almonds and chocolate-limes with spicy aniseed comes toward the finish. A drop of water intensifies the smoke and brings out the minerality of the whisky.