Octomore?

by **LeoDLion** » Wed Jul 11, 2007 9:11 pm

I have heard of this name but I vaguely remember if it is a name of a distillery, name of the whisky, or something else? I also remember that it is suppose to be the peatiest of all of the Islay whisky. However I can not find it anywhere. Can somebody shed a light? Thanks.

by **les taylor** » Wed Jul 11, 2007 9:27 pm

Hi Leo it's produced by Bruichladdich The first distillation was in 2002. It has a Phenolic content of 80.5 parts per million. It is to be released at no younger age than eight years.

The good news is My Brother and I have reserved a case.

:thumbsup:

by **LeoDLion** » Wed Jul 11, 2007 10:45 pm

Hi Les. Thanks for your reply. So we are looking forward to 2010 for the first release!

by **Di Blasi** » Thu Jul 12, 2007 1:41 am

Smart one Les!! I'm sure you can already start counting how much money you've earned!! You can probably sell one, which will pay for the rest to be enjoyed!

by **les taylor** » Thu Jul 12, 2007 8:47 am

Thanks guys as you know with futures the whisky is already paid for, it's the duty and vat that we will have to pay on it's release. So we are hoping Gordon Brown and Alistair Darling are going to be kind to whisky drinkers.

by **Deactivated Member** » Thu Jul 12, 2007 9:14 am

Weren't there 'dribbles' of Octomore in Bruichladdich 3D3 ?

by **corbuso** » Thu Jul 12, 2007 9:19 am

eelbrook wrote:Weren't there 'dribbles' of Octomore in Bruichladdich 3D3 ?

That is correct.
The Octomore is the most heavily peated whisky ever produced and hope that it will improve with time.
There has been two batches, one produced in 2002 and a second one in 2003, even more peated than the first batch.

Corbuso
..............
http://www.whisky-news.com

by **r900p** » Thu Jul 12, 2007 10:34 am

I got good news too, i got the second batch in bond (but a case), Les you think, if yours and mine meet they'll grow in numbers :wink:

Rob

by **les taylor** » Thu Jul 12, 2007 10:55 am

r900p wrote:I got good news too, i got the second batch in bond (but a case), Les you think, if yours and mine meet they'll grow in numbers

Rob

Rob they will be called Baby Octomore's. :wink:

by **r900p** » Thu Jul 12, 2007 3:05 pm

Rob they will be called Baby Octomore's. :wink:

[/quote]

Just think of the queues on ebay!

by **D`Sypher** » Sun Jul 15, 2007 4:51 pm

Everything said above is true,but I just had to post this:
Octomore was also a distillery situated on Islay that opened in 1816 and closed in 1840.

by **les taylor** » Sun Jul 15, 2007 5:06 pm

D`Sypher wrote:Everything said above is true,but I just had to post this:
Octomore was also a distillery situated on Islay that opened in 1816 and closed in 1840.

Hi D`Sypher and welcome to the forums. Good to see you doing a double act with Ann-Helen. You're right of course about Octomore, which is what s inspired Bruichladdich to make this style of whisky.

by **r900p** » Sun Jul 15, 2007 5:59 pm

learn something new everyday, keep the facts coming.

Rob

by **Deactivated Member** » Tue Jul 17, 2007 6:18 pm

Octomore is the name of a farm currently occupied by James ("I Feel Good") Brown, who does work for Bruichladdich. His daughter Joanne gave us a tour there. Not sure if the distillery was on the same site, and have forgotten the significance of the name--will have to refer to Peat Smoke & Spirit. Or maybe someone else will before I get home! Post answer on Wendy's "Meaning Behind The Name" thread.

by **Ganga** » Tue Jul 17, 2007 7:56 pm

If I order octomore, will I get eight?

by **Spirit of Islay** » Tue Jul 17, 2007 8:25 pm

Hi Mr TH ,
yes the distillery was on the farm site , some of the farm buildings and the holiday cottages are likely to have been part of the distillery . James actually provides the water from his spring for the distilling at Bruichladdich , he's a really nice guy and also used to be the Port Charlotte lighthouse keeper !

by **Deactivated Member** » Wed Jul 18, 2007 9:13 am

MrTattieHeid wrote:Not sure if the distillery was on the same site, and have forgotten the significance of the name--will have to refer to Peat Smoke & Spirit. Or maybe someone else will before I get home! Post answer on Wendy's "Meaning Behind The Name" thread.

It's just a guess, but the name may derive from Uachdar Mór - which would mean big upland. I can't immediately think of anything else to contribute to the "octo" part of the name - perhaps "achadh", meaning field...

by **r900p** » Wed Jul 18, 2007 10:05 am

Ganga,

Is it the futures your thinking of ordering, depending on which future is is its either half or a case, i'm pretty sure octomore was a case though. Don't forget bruichladdich do a mixed case too, which is a couple of bottles of each of the futures this would include the octomre.

Rob

by **les taylor** » Wed Jul 18, 2007 10:40 am

Nick Brown wrote:
MrTattieHeid wrote:Not sure if the distillery was on the same site, and have forgotten the significance of the name--will have to refer to Peat Smoke & Spirit. Or maybe someone else will before I get home! Post answer on Wendy's "Meaning Behind The Name" thread.

It's just a guess, but the name may derive from Uachdar Mór - which would mean big upland. I can't immediately think of anything else to contribute to the "octo" part of the name - perhaps "achadh", meaning field...

Nick I came across this definition earlier:-

big eighth farm, or locally known as big brae Oct-o-more

Does that make sense?

by **Deactivated Member** » Wed Jul 18, 2007 11:06 am

Les - Big Brae would make sense - I think a brae and an upland are broadly the same thing, although I think brae tends to be "leathad". It all dates back to a time when there weren't many man made features on the land, so people had lots of names for subtley different types of landscape.

Big eighth farm would surprise me - chiefly because it doesn't make much sense in English! Although the Gaelic for eight is "ochd" - pronounced "ochk", I've never heard of a form that means "eighth farm" - and it would be very unusual if it were a Latin-Gaelic hybrid!

Place names are often difficult to translate, though, because they have been re-spelt and pronunciations change over the years. A few are beyond doubt (Ardbeg, for example) but in most cases it is an inexact science. For example, Glenmorangie claims to be Glen of Tranquility, when I can't see any link to tranquility. I could see Very Windy Glen, though. And Dalwhinnie claims to be the Field of Meetings, or some such. I think it is probably the same as Dailuaine - The Green Field - which would be pronounced Dal oo ah nya in Gaelic (you can then see the similarity to Dalwhinnie).

Sorry to go on - I find it an endlessly fascinating subject, not least because it sheds light on what ancient Gaels felt noteworthy and important.

by **les taylor** » Wed Jul 18, 2007 11:36 am

If there were another 7 farms in the area or had links to the eigth. Then perhaps it would make sense. A little more digging is obviously neccessary.

Mrs Les and my youngest daughter have taken our family tree back into the 1700's and discovered all sorts of things about place names and family names relating to villages that no longer exist. Or have been swallowed up by the expansion of other places. They even discovered where the girls school name came from. We have lived around here all our lives and only just learnt these things about what is on our doorstep.

It is fascinating.

by **Deactivated Member** » Wed Jul 18, 2007 12:19 pm

les taylor wrote:If there were another 7 farms in the area or had links to the eigth. Then perhaps it would make sense. A little more digging is obviously neccessary.

An eighth farm could be one that has been subject to divisions - a full farm divides into two halves; one half divides into two quarters; and a quarter into two eighths - which could be the case if too many sons were around to inherit land. I know this division of farms was a big problem in Ireland and led to great poverty. The primogeniture concept may seem unfair, but we'd have to admit that it did a successful job in preserving wealth within the upper classes.

But I doubt that this would be the origin of this name because it makes no sense when coupled to "big".

by **Ganga** » Wed Jul 18, 2007 3:41 pm

r900p wrote:Ganga,

Is it the futures your thinking of ordering, depending on which future is is its either half or a case, i'm pretty sure octomore was a case though. Don't forget bruichladdich do a mixed case too, which is a couple of bottles of each of the futures this would include the octomre.

Rob

Play on words my good friend. "Oct" ---> eight.

Here's something else for you guys to think about. The farm may have been convenient for a name/story. Les has indicated that the peating level is slightly over 80. Yet another occurrence of eight. After all it is Mr. Mcewan.

by **Deactivated Member** » Wed Jul 18, 2007 5:52 pm

Mr Brown's website advertising holiday cottages is here. There are two interesting photos of the cottage that was part of the old distillery.

by **Photon** » Wed Jul 18, 2007 9:30 pm

If memory serves "Octomore" does refer to the large chunk of a full farm lot divided into eighths. I assume the large-ness comes from having more arable land than the other chunks. There is also a piece called Octovulin - the eighth with the mill, which I believe is farther up Loch Indaal. And yes, the latin-gaelic mix does seem odd,

-P.

by **r900p** » Thu Jul 19, 2007 11:11 am

Ganga

Rob

by **Deactivated Member** » Thu Jul 19, 2007 6:07 pm

I've done some more digging.

It seems that there was a measure of land called an ochdamh - one eighth of a dabhach. This ochdamh was apparently used in Ile.

On the other hand, there are two similar sounding words: achadh (field) and uachdar (upland).

In most place names, Auchty~ or Auchter~ are cited as deriving from achadh. However, I have found one academic text that gives a reference to Auchteroe: "Might contain Gaelic ochdamh or ochd 'eighth or eight'; alternatively uachdar 'upland, upper part'"

I guess this is one that will never be certain - but I could be certain that the name doesn't have a Latin root except in so far as Gaelic numbers seem to have a link to Romance numbers.