Port Charlotte and Octomore

by **Stephen** » Fri Mar 26, 2004 6:09 am

I had tasted the spirit of this two new distilleries that be reopened by Bruichladdich yesterday.

Port Charlotte will be an "Ardbeg version" of Bruichladdich and will be a great distillery.(the moderately peated version (40 ppm) of Bruichladdich)

Octomore is so heavily peated that will be an intersesting issue.

by **Admiral** » Fri Mar 26, 2004 10:12 am

Has the Octomore been released yet? I thought it wasn't being made available until 2008 or something like that?

by **Stephen** » Fri Mar 26, 2004 12:33 pm

Admiral wrote:Has the Octomore been released yet? I thought it wasn't being made available until 2008 or something like that?

It's ture.Port Charlotte and Octomore have not been released.
I tasted the spirit that has not be aged in the cask.

by **SpiritofShetland** » Fri Mar 26, 2004 1:30 pm

I've also tasted the Octomore-spirit - it's smashing!

The first destillation took place in October 2002 - and it won't be bottled until Jim McEwan says it's done, but no earlier than after eight years. So we'll have to wait for at least 2010 to see it - and than mainly only at the homes of those who've bought a case on beforehand.

Arve
Oslo, Norway
Norwegian Malt Whisky Society
Norwegian Malt Whisky Forum

by **Deactivated Member** » Fri Mar 26, 2004 1:50 pm

Tasted it too, the Octomore, it was 6 months old and had a good good feeling about it.

Cant wait to see the end product...

Erik

by **Lawrence** » Fri Mar 26, 2004 5:04 pm

I bought a cask of Port Charlotte, with 15 other people, (1/16 share) and I'm very interested to taste the final product in 10 years.

by **Admiral** » Fri Mar 26, 2004 11:46 pm

I purchased a case of the Octomore (i.e. 12 bottles), but I guess I missed the boat with the Port Charlotte.

With a phenol level of approx 80ppm, it will be interesting to see how the spirit & the wood combine to introduce other characteristics to offset the peat.

Let's all remember to discuss this in 2010!

by **Lawrence** » Sat Mar 27, 2004 8:09 pm

I don't think you've missed the boat on the Port Charlotte, they are doing some every year (as I understand it) so you could still order some. How did you secure the case of Octomore?

by **Admiral** » Sun Mar 28, 2004 12:35 am

It was a couple of years ago now, so I can't remember precisely how I found out about it, but I think I stumbled across the offer on the Bruichladdich website somewhere. I went to check this before replying to you, but their official website appears to have changed significantly since I was last there.

Will the Port Charlotte differ from regular Laddie simply by introducing more heavily peated malt? Or are they re-configuring the stills (do they have a rectifier?) in order to produce a heavier spirit? Perhaps they have identified a different wood regime for the maturatin?

Anybody know?

by **Deactivated Member** » Sun Mar 28, 2004 10:35 am

As far as I know Admiral, they don't configure the stills or what so ever. The Port Charlotte is just a heavy peated malt, according to certain specifications. I think another matter is how you operate stills!

Erik

by **lexkraai** » Sun Mar 28, 2004 1:08 pm

At Whisky Live in London earlier this month, they had a sample of the latest batch of Octomore new make. Forget the 80 ppm, that's child's play .... this latest batch was said to have 124 ppm ..... absolutely mind-blowing stuff!

Cheers, Lex

by **Admiral** » Mon Mar 29, 2004 4:15 am

At 124ppm, you would have to question whether it actually tastes like malt?

by **Laphroaig** » Wed Mar 31, 2004 1:33 pm

Yeah, that's what I understood McEwan to say as well - which was that the peat count for Octomore is around 125.

He says it will be a force to reckon with, but will be very much drinkable for peatophiles. I trust his thoughts, as he is yet to be wrong. I guess we will find out in about 8-10 more years.

by **r0b** » Sat Apr 10, 2004 2:10 am

~120 ppm... Geez. It seems way OTT to me. What's the point?

Are there no limited releases of Octomore planned before it reaches 8 or so years in the casks?

by **Laphroaig** » Wed Apr 14, 2004 4:26 pm

As for pre-releases I'm not sure. Several people state that they have tasted it already.

As for what the point is... that's a good question. I got the impression McEwan [might] be making a statement. Perhaps the statement is that Bruichladdich as we know using Islay standards is subtle. But only because it's meant to be that way, not because the formula and staffs thinking can't be cranked up for "peats" sake.

Another thing that comes to mind that seemed to have rubbed him pretty good was that ludicrous statement or outburst that was put out which went something along the lines of if distillery A (on Islay) and distillery B (in Speyside) use the same recipe, then the region was irrelevant as to the whisky's outcome upon bottling. If this Octomore turns out right, I don't think the genius who came up with that concept will be able to safely argue that the same product could be manufactured in the heart of Speyside.