I can almost hear Mark Reynier saying something like this to Jim McEwan when he tasted the heaviest peated malt in the world so far. Or to use Mark's words, how about a slice of Octomore? Today Bruichladdich Distillery announced the world’s peatiest whisky, Octomore2, named after the farm-scale lost distillery behind Port Charlotte. So far the peatiest whisky was Octomore and the new whisky is called Octomore/2_140 where the number 140 refers to the parts per million phenol in the barley. I don't know if this whisky comes with knife and fork or a can-opener to open the tin but it surely is impressive and remarkable. Mark sent out the following press release this afternoon:

Octomore is now 7% more peaty than the inaugural 2008 record-breaker. The peatiness, at 140 ppm (parts per million) in the original malted barley, gives this whopper a huge peat smoke punch, almost 30% more than its nearest rival to the title. It is referred to as 'the iron fist in a velvet glove' owing to the whisky’s surprisingly subtle charms, and is distilled at Islay’s Bruichladdich Distillery by head distiller Jim McEwan: 'It’s a great equation: massive peat + Bruichladdich elegance = awesome spirit. We dialed up the peating level of this 2nd bottling of Octomore because it seemed churlish not to. But Octomore is not for the feint-hearted. At this peating level it is for savouring; a little goes an awful long way. Taste with minimal water to appreciate and share in its evolution. Dr Riffkin, Tatlock & Thompson’s analyst that certified the whisky, told me: 'this is the highest peating level we have ever seen - by miles.'

Octomore 2, matured in classic bourbon casks for six years, is bottled at cask strength at 63.5% abv. There are 15,000 numbered bottles available worldwide.

Tag: bruichladdich octomore