To date, I’ve purchased a few bottles of the Octave range, a Ben Nevis 12 from 2008, a Dalmunach and one of the Iconic Speyside’s. I’ve enjoyed all of them and found the experience to be different, which is a good thing.
I need to say that the samples of these new releases were kindly supplied courtesy of DTC. Here are my thoughts on them...
The Octave Teaninich 2009 12 year old (UK exclusive. No. 5)
Hogshead 6732216, 55.4% ABV, 94 bottles. Octave: 2nd
fill, 6 months in.
The classic mid gold colour, looks calm, but actually is
very lively! It needs a little water to calm it down, and generally I do not
put water in cask strength whisky to drink it, or if I do, it’s very little. It
reminds me of a Bruichladdich Mirco Provenance Juracon, in how it feels in the
mouth – with a fizz to it, without bubbles. I’m not sure about this one. It
confuses me, but then so did the Laddie Micro Provenance. I really got into
that bottle once it was half empty.
Without water...
Nose: peach and cream
pavlova desert, sherry, citrus, white pepper.
With water...
Nose: polished new leather comes through quite strongly.
Palate: wood, walnuts, tangerines, spiciness.
Finish: medium in length, white pepper, citrus and some
parma violets and some floral notes.
Available on TyndrumWhisky for £89
The Octave Invergordon 2009 12 year old (UK exclusive. No. 6)
Butt 5233685, 55.8%, 92 bottles, Octave 2nd fill,
5 months in.
This one is very much a tale of two whiskies, which makes it
really intriguing. It’s rocking two personalities. Without water, it’s a
tropical fruity number - I’m sitting on a beach in the Philippines sipping a
Papaya juice, and with water, a chocolate driven side, where I’ve visited
the fridge to raid the choccy after too many drams. I like both sides to this whisky,
and I could see myself with a bottle, choosing to drink it both with and
without. This is a really good grain, with only a little sharpness on the nose
without water.
Without water...
Nose: Malty biscuits, earthiness, sherry Xmas spiciness and
caramel.
Palate: Creamy, buttery, hazelnuts, Papaya fruit, gala
melons, banana.
Finish: Lovely sweet payaya
With water...
Nose: chocolate and black coffee, with chocolate dominating.
It’s galaxy half / half, creamy dark chocolate.
Palate & finish: Milk and dark chocolate, with the finish actually very similar to having just had a square of galaxy dark chocolate.
Available at Tyndrumfor £50 and other retailers.
The Octave Highland Park 2006 15 year old (UK exclusive. No. 7)
Hogshead 5032796, 54.9%, 92 bottles, Octave 2nd
fill, 6 months in.
This one has the strongest emotional pull of the three,
making me think I’m walking on a grassy cliff by the sea. The sun’s out and all
is well with the world. A good start. It also has an extremely long finish,
which is quite pleasant, so one mouthful goes a long way! I tasted with water
as well, however, I would not recommend that, as the whisky loses the lovely
DNA of the distillery. It drifts into generic sherry territory. Without water,
it’s a lovely whisky.
Without water...
Nose: Sea air, malty bread, a little wood, almond milk,
fresh grass and sweet and salty pork
Palate: Honey, minerality, saltiness, gentle smoke, old leather.
Finish: Sweet and very salty (white cooked) pork with some apple sauce.
Was available on TyndrumWhisky for £130 but now sold out
Packaging gets a hard wrap, but if we are all totally honest with ourselves, we like stuff that is gift wrapped. This is despite us knowing the packaging is surplus to requirements, unless of course we are talking about already made custard. We equate more expensive items with requiring packaging. If supermarkets stopped putting plastic on everything, this would make more of a difference than cardboard on a few bottles of whisky.
I like the boxes that the Duncan Taylor Octave range come in. It’s classy, minimalist, and
has a cool magnetic strip in the box. The cream colour looks good against the
golden whisky.
Other retailers stocking these Octave releases include, the
following.
·
The Spirits Embassy, who I’ve done a lot of
tastings with in 2021. They are big Duncan Taylor fans for sure.
·
Top Whiskies
·
Regal Whisky
·
JL Gill
·
Royal Mile Whiskies
· Also at the Glasgow Whisky Festival
Written by @whiskytip 15 February 2022
Spirits Embassy is owned by Duncan Taylor. 😉
ReplyDeleteGreat post by the way.
Delete