Octomore Single Cask 9 Years Old

This year's Octomore Single Cask is a nine year old single malt from Bruichladdich Distillery, on the shores of Loch Indaal on the Isle of Islay. Octomore is Bruichladdich's super-heavily peated range, combining extreme peating levels with the clean, elegant spirit from the distillery's tall, narrow stills - bold and smoky, yet refined.

Rather than a vatting of many casks, this release comes from a single first-fill bourbon cask, chosen and bottled on its own. Malted to a towering 137.3 PPM, the spirit spent nine years in that one cask before being bottled exactly as it came out.

First-fill bourbon casks are American oak barrels being used for Scotch for the first time after emptying of bourbon. Because they were charred inside and have only held bourbon before, they give generous vanilla, sweetness and soft oak to the spirit, and they leave the distillery character clear to see rather than masking it.

With a single cask, every bottle tells the story of just that one barrel. Here the sweetness of fresh American oak meets Octomore's heavy peat, giving a pale gold, rich and viscous dram where smoke and sweet oak sit in balance.

Aged for 9 years and peated to 137.3 PPM, it is presented at natural cask strength.