Bruichladdich Octomore 14.1 5 Year Old Scottish Barley Bourbon Cask 70cl, 59.6%
Tasting Notes
Colour: Light amber. This is taken directly from the official published colour note carried by reviewed retailer sources.
Nose: Smoked vanilla, sweet caramel, and toffee notes open on the nose, with sooty smoke balanced with delicate coconut and flaked almonds. There is an unmistakable earthy smokiness and a hint of citrus, with lemon meringue pie cutting through rich barbeque pork. This is taken directly from the official published nose note carried by reviewed retailer sources.
Palate: Bright citrus, smoke and a distinct minerality come through on the palate, followed by charred oak and beach bonfire embers. Toffee and creamy vanilla are balanced with the earthy smoke, with bright notes of pear, gooseberry fool and green apple simultaneously adding brightness and depth. Roasted coffee, hints of clove and nutmeg begin to come to the fore, with a gentle hint of heather honey. This is taken directly from the official published palate note carried by reviewed retailer sources.
Finish: Butterscotch and vanilla are balanced with Octomore’s signature earthy peat smoke and a hint of salt spray, with burnt heather and gorse flowers settling on the finish. This is taken directly from the official published finish note carried by reviewed retailer sources.
Description
Bruichladdich Octomore 14.1 5 Year Old Scottish Barley Bourbon Cask 70cl, 59.6% is the backbone release of the Octomore 14 series, the bottling that Bruichladdich presents as the key reference point from which the other expressions in the range evolve. The official product page states that it was distilled from 100% Scottish mainland barley, peated to 128.9 PPM, bottled at 59.6% ABV, and released in 70cl format.
What makes this bottle especially attractive is its directness. Bruichladdich’s own wording says the 14.1 showcases the balance between smoke, malt, cask and maturation, while the official product page and supporting retailer references confirm that it was matured for five years in first-fill ex-American whiskey casks. That gives the whisky a cleaner and more focused identity than the more wine- or cask-experimental Octomore editions.
Why Choose Bruichladdich Octomore 14.1 5 Year Old Scottish Barley Bourbon Cask 70cl, 59.6%
Bruichladdich Octomore 14.1 5 Year Old Scottish Barley Bourbon Cask 70cl, 59.6% stands out because it delivers Octomore in one of its purest and most benchmark-driven forms. It combines very high peat levels, full-term first-fill bourbon-cask maturation, and a young but highly expressive spirit, which makes it especially appealing for drinkers who want to understand the core shape of the 14 series before moving into the other releases.
Ideal For.
This bottle is ideal for peat lovers who want a modern Octomore that shows the series in its most direct structure rather than through wine-cask or secondary-maturation influence.
It is ideal for drinkers who enjoy smoked vanilla, sweet caramel, citrus brightness, earthy peat smoke and a mineral, coastal edge in a high-strength Islay single malt.
It is also ideal for collectors building across Octomore editions and wanting the backbone .1 expression from the 14 series. This is an inference based on Bruichladdich’s own description of 14.1 as the reference point for the rest of the range.
Product Details
Product Name: Bruichladdich Octomore 14.1 5 Year Old Scottish Barley Bourbon Cask 70cl, 59.6%. This reflects the user-provided bottle title and reviewed bottle references.
Category: Super-heavily peated Islay single malt Scotch whisky. This is based on Bruichladdich’s Octomore range identity and reviewed bottle references.
Distillery: Bruichladdich Distillery. This is based on the official product page and reviewed bottle references.
Region: Islay, Scotland. This is based on reviewed bottle references.
Series: Octomore 14 Series. Whiskybase also records the bottling series name as The Impossible Equation.
Release Position: The .1 backbone release of the Octomore 14 series. This is based on Bruichladdich’s official description of 14.1 as the necessary comparison point for the rest of the range.
Age: 5 years old. This is based on the official product page and reviewed bottle references.
Distilled: 2017. This is based on reviewed bottle references.
Barley Provenance: 100% Scottish mainland barley. Reviewed bottle references specify Scottish grown Concerto barley from the 2016 harvest.
Peat Level: 128.9 PPM. This is based on the official product page and reviewed bottle references.
Bottle Size: 70cl. This is based on the official product page and reviewed bottle references.
ABV: 59.6%. This is based on the official product page and reviewed bottle references.
Cask Type: First-fill ex-American whiskey casks / first-fill bourbon casks. This is based on the official product page, Bruichladdich’s own 14-series comparison note, and reviewed bottle references.
Presentation: Non-chill filtered, colouring free, matured entirely on Islay, and bottled using Islay spring water. This is based on the official product page and bottle-database references.
Barcode: 5055807416467. This is based on Whiskybase’s bottle record.
Bottle Count: No confirmed public outturn was found in the official and reviewed secondary sources I checked for Octomore 14.1.
Collector’s Note
Bruichladdich Octomore 14.1 has strong collector appeal because it is the .1 release of its series, and Bruichladdich itself frames that bottling as the backbone of the range. For collectors, that gives it extra importance beyond the whisky alone, because it serves as the clearest baseline for understanding the whole Octomore 14 set.
It is also attractive because the specifications are clean and memorable: 5 years old, 128.9 PPM, 59.6% ABV, Scottish mainland barley, and full maturation in first-fill ex-American whiskey casks. That combination gives the release a very defined identity within modern Octomore bottlings.
Additional information
| Weight | 2.1 kg |
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