2021 24 Days of Whisk(e)y - Day 24

Friday! Day 24 of 24 Days of Whisk(e)y ... and it happens to be my birthday too (: Had a good time tasting all the Whisk(e)y, and will start hunting down new and interesting bottles for next year. I'm finishing out this year with Bruichladdich Octomore 11.1, "Super-Heavily Peated" Islay Single Malt Scotch Whisky, Aged 5 Years, 59.4% ABV, 139.6 PPM (a peat measurement). I had heard many good things about Octomore, so when I saw this on the shelf, I went ahead and picked it up. 

On the nose, this is smokey, ash, sweet butterscotch, honey and a touch of citrus. The taste, I get a spicy heat, butterscotch, smoke, and ash - this is quite different than an earthy Ardbeg. The finish is smoke, bbq meat sweetness, spicy pepper heat that lingers, drifts off into ash.

With water, I get a touch of brine on the nose along with sweet bbq. Maybe sweeter on the taste too, and the finish has more of a spicy tingle, but less everything else. It is good both ways, but I probably prefer it neat. 

Overall, this is amazingly good. My brain could be playing tricks on me a bit, and I'd like to sometime try this without knowing what I was trying to see if I still thought it was still in the 'amazing' territory. Best of the year, and I'll be on the hunt for 12.1 or other releases. Rated 4.75 / 5.0 - cheers all!