Octomore Edition 15.3 700mL

Peated to 307.2 PPM, Octomore Edition 15.3 stands as the second most heavily peated bottling from Bruichladdich. Every grain of barley came from Octomore farm, a mere two miles down the road from the distillery, making this a 100% Islay barley single malt. Maturation took place in bourbon casks alongside Spanish Oloroso hogsheads, and slow distillation coaxed out ripe fruit notes that hold their own against the heavy smoke.

Bottled at 61.3% ABV in a 700 ml bottle, it drinks far softer than the strength suggests, with a viscous, rounded body. Butterscotch and creamy vanilla lead, followed by dried fruit and sweet orange zest, with toasted oak and barley sugar grown nearby sitting beneath steady waves of dry smoke. Malty sweetness and a faint maritime salinity round out an Islay malt shaped by its own patch of ground.