I reviewed Octomore 8.1 last week but I can’t really stop here so let’s head on to the next one in the series – Octomore 8.2.
Just like Octomore 8.1, it’s 100% Scottish barley peated to 167 ppm level and carries an 8 year old age statement.
The x.2 suffix in the series is reserved for wine maturation or finish, but this year it’s kind of extreme as the casks composition is complex. At first, the Octomore spirit spent six years in one of three different types of wine casks (all second fill casks):
- French Mourvedre
- Austrian sweet wines
- French Sauternes
And then finished (or as Bruichladdich call it: ACEd) in fresh Amarone casks for additional two years. From those Amarone casks, 36,000 were produced for the travel retail shops.
Octomore 8.2 Masterclass (58.4%, ~€159.90)
Nose: Sweet malt and sweet red wine, tannins, nuts, lactic, moss, big time leather- new shoe leather and smoked leather. Red gooseberry, freshly cut wet peat. After a few minutes, perfume, bay leaves, cloves, and more and more leather. Continue reading
Nose: Soft smoke, creamy with vanilla and fruitiness, green melon (that weakens over time), orange orchard, pastry and almonds and more fruit sweetness after a few minutes. 
Nose: Intense and sweet, ripe mango, canned fruit galore with apricot, peaches and all that tasty sugared juice. Cookies dough, vanilla and white flowers petals. After a few minutes in the glass (maybe even 10-15 minutes) there’s honey with some oak bitterness in the background. with water (mandatory with such high ABV): fruitier, more mango, apricot and peaches, even a bit more floral. 
Nose: Old sherry, sherry vinegar and balsamic vinegar, dried fruit, milk chocolate. Lots of sherry fruits instead of the chocolate and spices that dominate the 25yo. After a while cherries and strawberries, more sherry vinegar, sour sweet dried and fresh berries and a bit more chocolate but not on the same chocolate levels of the 25yo. 
Nose: Oh, this is some deeply sherried whisky, dried fruit, red berries and cherries and dark chocolate. Dry with lots of spices, wood spices, cinnamon and nutmeg and more and more nutmeg and nuts. After a few minutes the different waves mesh together with dark chocolate, dried fruit, cherries and a dash of spice. Great balance and harmony and it it gets better with extra time. 
Nose: Classic Glenmorangie notes, honey, butterscotch, soft nuttiness, orange and lemon peels perfume, a minerals and chalky, buttery almonds croissant and a dash of white pepper and mint freshness. Very rich and sweet. 
Whisky Gospel 