The whisky in release NO.01 was distilled and bottled at the Bruichladdich Distillery as edition 1.1 of their Octomore range. It was released in 2008 as a 5-Year-Old whisky as this is considered the optimum age for the phenols to be at their most expressive. A limited release of only 6000 bottles, Octomore Edition 1.1 was matured in former bourbon casks and distilled from malt grain which was peated to 131 PPM.

ABOUT THE OCTOMORE RANGE

Octomore is the most heavily peated single malt whisky in the world, produced at by the Bruichladdich distillery on the Isle of Islay. Octomore takes its name from the farm located on the hillside above the village of Port Charlotte close to the Bruichladdich distillery. A licenced farm distillery operated at Octomore between 1816 and 1852, run by the Montgomery family of tenant farmers. The Bruichladdich distillery was revived in 2001, when it was acquired by a consortium of Islay landowners and London-based wine merchant for £6.5 million, after which the new distilling team experimented with the whisky’s character and style.

When distillation resumed in May 2001 the first batch of spirit produced was heavily peated; a variant which would be released under the name Port Charlotte. In September 2002, Bruichladdich produced the first incarnation of the ‘super heavily peated’ Octomore, creating a third distinct brand alongside the unpeated Bruichladdich and heavily peated Port Charlotte malts. Octomore’s character is defined by peating levels, which are determined by measuring the Phenol Parts per Million (PPM) of the malted barley used distilling process. As a result, the higher the malted barleys PPM level, the peatier the whisky produced is to taste. Octomore expression 8.3 was peated to a record 309 PPM.

Despite Octomore’s reputation as a ‘Peat Monster’ it is not a one-dimensional whisky as maritime, fruity, floral and vanilla notes find their voice in the midst of the peat smoke. In Octomore Edition 1.1 the drinker can explore the starting point for the Octomore brand; a must for strongly peated whisky fans.