Today we go back to Octomore, this time our first of the 2 series. This one is a mixed of 1st fill Oloroso + 1st and 2nd fill Amarone coming in at 57.7% abv and 128.9 PPM. Join us on Patreon @ / topshelfwhisky
Found a bottle of the 14.2 for $260 before tax. Decisions decisions. I have 13.2 and am wanting to maybe compare but these are getting very very expensive.
I want to defend myself with some "isn't jim another word for john", but I but we have a lot of Jim's and John's who watch who won't agree. Thanks for the correction.
Nice reviews guys. Nice to see the king of the Man Cave at the party. Have any of you had the Bruichladdich Bere Barley series? I love this series and have the 2006/2008/2010/2012/2013 bottlings. If you haven't had it yet, it's worth it. I'd start with the '06 '08 & '10 versions. I don't have enough of an opinion on the 13 yet to make a recommend. Very unique stuff and really takes water well to bring out the sweeter notes.
Spot on with Octomore being worth $180 not $280. I love Octomore but could only find the 13.1 last year but loved it enough to buy a back up. Just a bbq wonderland with a finish that lasts all night. Only have ever seen one video where all three Octomores of same year were reviewed and that was awhile ago.. so gentlemen accept this tasty challenge and try and get the 14.1 and 14.3 and do individual videos and then a blind. Love the channel Two matches I have recently done with friends were RR13 Batch 5 vs MM Cellar Age and Found North Batch 7 (18 yr old) vs Barrel Grey Label Seagrass (16 yr old).
I recently just experienced my first Octomore a couple months back with the 14.3. For reference if anybody loves Laphroaig, Ardbeg, Peat's Beast, Smokehead, an Bruichladdich you'll appreciate an respect this, although likely not it's higher curated price-tag that accompanies it. My experience was hard hitting but refined an dialed enough with a vast representation that you find in older age statement offerings from other brands. Wasn't disappointed, equally as good or better than some of the Laphroaig Cairdeas offerings an even Ardbeg Committee Releases I've had over the years.
I just picked up a bottle of the 14.2 on Friday. The store had all three on the shelf. I already had a taste of the 14.1 at our whisky club tasting last month so I had to decide between the 14.2 and 14.3. I went with the 14.2 for the same reasons you guys did, the sherry and wine cask maturation. It sounds like it’s one I’ll enjoy. Great review! Keep up the good work! It looks like someone already corrected you about Jim McEwan, not John 😁.
The age and price have always been an issue for me. I bought the legendary 6.3 to see what the fuss was about and much as I enjoyed it it just wasn't worth it. Bruichladdich are likely my favourite distillery for a number of reasons but I just can't get on board with Octomore. The price is completely ridiculous for a five year old whisky. It's even more expensive than the rip-off that is Lagavulin 12 these days which is seven years older. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy young peaty whiskies but they are usually pretty inexpensive, like Smokehead, Ileach, etc. I'm especially surprised to see you guys jumping on board the Octomore hype wagon as you have a well documented history of being critical of youthful whisky. I have had superb 5 year old Laphroaig bottled at cask strength but I wouldn't expect to pay more than £75 for that even if it had been aged in the best cask in the world. Springbank 12 costs £75. Enjoyable review all the same. I would happily drink it but I would never buy it. Cheers lads. WT
Octomore doesn't taste like young whisky. It doesn't taste old mind you. But if you told me most octomore was 15 years old, I'd have nothing based on flavor to question you. I've had one smokehead and you'd have to pay me to drink it again. That said I'm looking to get a PC islay 2014, but even that's gone up 15% from last year....
@@topshelfdustin3060 Absolutely Dustin! I compared the greatest Octomore of them all (6.3) to the PC Islay Barley and I would much rather have three PC Islay Barleys to one 6.3. It's a branch of Bruichladdich to support the core range. I shouldn't say that because that's what we always used to say about old Springbank and look where that's got us.
@@welshtoro3256 haha, I always thought 8.3 was the best. But that said, my secrete little guilty pleasure is Octomore .4's with the french oak and what not. I won't lie welsh....if I see one, I'm gonna get it Even if it's over priced. sometimes we just gotta buy what makes us smile and isn't that what spending money is about? Getting joy? Mike and I are both with you that these are over priced, but this being first fill and heavy wine casks, we wanted to give it a try. We haven't done an octomore in 2 years I think maybe more. So hopefully we get a pass breaking down now that these .2's are available and one caught our interest.
@@topshelfdustin3060 I hear you buddy. Whisky isn't my only passion and sometimes you have to pay for your pleasure. I go over the top on occasion. Sometimes you just have to pay. Cheers Dustin. Always love the conversation. WT
Guys, this is good whisky but not 270ish bucks whisky. For example, in my country i can get Uigeadail/Corrywreckan regularlly for around 45 euros, on discount (including shipping) and i am very happy about it. Any Octomore is triple the price. Thanks, but no thanks. Good review btw, im with you on this one!
@@topshelfwhisky funny small story, 5 years ago ive seen some bottles of Corryvreckan on a big sale. Bought 2 bottles. Until then never had peated whisky. I said what the hell. It was my first peated whisky, big, bold, unapologetic, peat at its best. Since then i was hooked, now im a hardcore peathead:) i dont care so much on sherry matured/finishes but i do like a fine bourbon matured single malt. Kudos guys!!!
Thank you guys for another great review. I'm hesitating between this Octomore and the Port Charlotte OLC. Any recommendation? I loved the Octo 13.2 because it had a full 5 year maturation on Oloroso casks which makes me doubt if I would like the 14.2.
I to love the Octomore 13.2. It might be one of my top 3 favorite Octomores. However the prices are getting outrageous. So I have all the 13's & 14's: 0.1, .2, .3, and .4 (haven't opened the 0.4's yet). If you want a good bang for your buck then go for the PC OLC 1. I paid $165 for it, so almost $100 less than the Octomore 14.2. *The PC OLC 1 is Very Delicious, but the sherry notes are not as similar to the musty dunnage warehouse sherry notes found on the Octomore 13.2. As for the 14.2, it's like a hybrid of the 13.2 + sweet red wine/berry notes that then become bitter. The Amarone flavors don't entirely steal the show. I think there's a balance (sherry first then amarone). I hope this helps you.
@jeffreykasel3387 thank you for the great help. Prices in Europe are way lower, around 130 euro for the OLC and 150 for the 14.2, which makes choosing even more difficult. Bit again , thank you very much for the advice.
@@janvervloet1201 Wow...those prices are substantially different from here in the US! Darn government and state taxes. Since there's not much of a price difference for you. Then I'd say buy whichever will give you the most unity/pleasure. Just an opinion here, but it might be fun for you to try the 14.2 since you really enjoyed the 13.2. There's enough of a difference between them. If you enjoy musty sherry with some sweet red berries and then a bitterness (not a oaky bitterness, but a fruit bitterness). Then the 14.2 will deliver. I forgot to mention that the PC OLC 1 is primarily bourbon matured then finished in Oloroso. So this will definitely be sweeter than the 14.2. Cheers and happy holidays.
@@janvervloet1201 Oops...I'm sorry for any confusion. I just caught a typo on my end. In a previous message I wrote "only option." 😅 I meant to say "opinion," as in this is only my opinion.
