Bruichladdich Octomore 15.3 Scotch Review

By Richard Thomas

Rating: A-

In 2023, I chose to do a rare batch review for the 14th installment of Bruichladdich’s famously smoky Octomore series. This year, I chose to tackle October 15.1, 15.2 and 15.3 separately, which brings me to the third and final chapter of Octomore 2024: the ultra-peated Octomore 15.3.

Bruichladdich has been doing this series for 15 years now, so raising their own bar for it is not easily achieved, but I think the distillery succeeded with 15.3, at least in one respect. At 307.2 ppm, this is the second most heavily peated whisky that Bruichladdich has ever made. Therefore, if a drinker should happen to get to try it, Octomore 15.3 will most likely by the most peaty whisky they’ve ever tried, and just possibly will ever try. After all, their most heavily peated whisky was made seven years ago.

The single malt was made from barley grown on the Octomore farm on Islay and matured in ex-bourbon casks (more than two-thirds of the proportion) and Spanish Oloroso hogsheads. The whisky was then bottled at a cask strength of 61.3% ABV. Octomore is usually five years old, and 15.3 is not listed as an exception.

The Scotch
My pour had a straw-like coloring, and that look came back around on the nose as well. I added a splash of water, because anything over 60% ABV pretty much requires it. It led with a scent that was like fresh cut straw, but next to it was a still-smoldering burnt patch of ground from a very recent field burn. Notes of cinnamon and sea spray rounded the nose out.

The smoky side of the whisky was present on the nose, but far from the peaty beast one would expect with numbers like this. The palate, however, pushes the smoke very much into the back. This silken-textured whisky leads with malty honey and cinnamon, with a fireplace shovelful of ash coming up only on the back end. That rolls off into the finish, which brought the three aspects–ash, honey, cinnamon–into superb balance, and holds that balance for a long, slow fade to black.

The final act on this whisky is truly wonderful, and something you should let play out fully before taking another sip. It’s also not the utter smokebomb one might expect with its sky high peating levels. The smoke current is certainly a potent one, but far from domineering.

The Price
This bottle is listed at $280.