A couple weeks ago I tried some little or no peated Bruichladdichs in the range 10-14yo, with pretty decent results. Now let's see how the peat crafted youngsters that are roaming the markets nowadays makes it. Two CS octomores, one CS Port Charlotte, The Peat and The Rocks (just to get a smooth start.)
Bruichladdich NAS 46% OB Rocks
This one is not peated as of what I know, as I haven't read much about it, Maybe there is some old stock in it from when the usual peat level was at 5ppm on the contrary to todays 0ppm. What should it taste like? The peat and the waves should be clear, should I expect something briny? The color is transparent caramel sauce, know what I mean? The thin supermarket ones. It smells Dry, briny, dusty, some fino sherry, slightly bitter, but again very maritime, salty water, sea ands sand, very promising. The taste is not up to par, sort of rubbery, my guess is there is some red wine casks involved here. Weird hints of stale or cheap red wine and some cardboard notes. I hope the peated ones will be better than this.
As said before, I'm still suspicious to wine casked whisky in general: 3
Bruichladdich NAS 46% OB Peat
I think this one is a moderately peated Bruichladdich, 20ppm or so. I think this one alongside the Waves have gotten fairly better reviews than the Rocks version. But I could be wrong, at least this one got a much paler color, now red wine casks? It smells straight forward peaty, not much else, as described on the label. There are some nice coastal notes too, saltiness, earthiness and a lot of peat. The taste is very light, some apple juice and peat, all in all far less off-notes than I found in the Rocks, but also far less notes all in all.
Light, peaty stuff: 4.5
Port Charlotte 7yo 2001-2008 61% OB PC7
A highly peated version of Bruichladdich, named Port Charlotte after some old distillery that once operated on the Island. I had the one called Sgioba a while back, and it was absolutely amazing, but it was also heavily influenced by a very active sherry cask. This one comes from bourbon wood (mostly at least), a strength that I like and at an age that I consider right about the quality peak of most heavily peated Islay Malts. I know that many people loves older versions of Ardbeg, Lagavulin, Bowmore and so on, and rightly so, but I often find the peat influence to deteriorate through many years in a cask. The color is light golden, it smells of peat, marshmallows, smoke, iodine, dark chocolate, smoked salmon and seaweed. The taste is sweet, again this soft, marshmallow, sugar coated sweetness. At first that is. Then the peat explosion comes, leathery, cinnamon, peaty, rubbery, lots going on, but in the end it is a peat bomb, I think this one needs a cask with a more powerful influence than bourbon wood. But in the future, there will be brilliance in this brand for sure.
I could easily recommend this to all my peatheaded friends: 7
Octomore NAS 59% OB 03.1
The peat monster from Bruichladdich, I have not yet read up on what the peat level in this version should be, but its getting more and more by every new expression I think. Hopefully it won't be just like licking an ashtray. It smells smoke, burnt smoke, not like cigarette smoke, more like house on fire smoke. And in a certain way like grease and old wood boats, you know, like skiff boats, yes, some coastal stuff in this one as well, but it is pretty well hidden behind the massive smokiness. The taste is an absolute killer, smoky as it gets but also very fat, like oily olives, green olives soaked in oil. And there is a bit of sweetness here as well. I guess many would try to dilute this one, but I'm afraid that will only help kill everything but the peat. Is this good? Yes, it is massive, I love it, but you have to love peat.. I think.. or wait a minut, I don't...hmm..
Amazing stuff, I thought it was gonna be all on peat, surely it weren't: 8
Octomore 5yo 59% OB 3_152
I didn't know if this was the same version as the last one, as the %abv is the same, but is it slightly darker in color. It smells light, smooth and.. oh yeah, extremely smoky. There is hard to describe it other that sweet and peaty/smoky. A bit greasy oil, you know, the same as the smell that hits you when you open the stove fan. The taste is much spicier than the 03.1, basil, red bell peppers, salty, OK, maybe I'm going a bot out of bounds here, but I actually prefer the much less complex 03.1, just because the peat plays extremely well with just one or two strong and clear other touches on the palate. This one has too much going on for me, I find myself looking for a taste that plays along with the peat, as the oily/greasiness in the 03.1. In this one there is just a bit too much to get a view of that, it just becomes a bit too messy for me. But it's not a bad whisky, by far.
If you like a complex peated whisky, go for this one: 6.5
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