Drinking whisky is about living in context and even the best of drams can get clouded by being in the wrong place at the wrong time, kind of like being Sarah Palin at the G8 Summit: no matter how it works out, something's going to come out wrong.
Such is the case when I first reviewed Octomore by Bruichladdich and its Master Distiller, Jim McEwan, earlier this year. I was not in the right place to really do it justice, and as you can see by the scathing ass-ripping I did of it, it found itself on the backside of my Favorites list. Well, for months it bothered me, not that I take anything back, but that perhaps it was I who was in this case, Sarah Palin (that's right, you heard it here, I compared myself to SP), out of place, in the wrong room, wrong state of mind, wrong part of the world, wrong reality (now that does sound like our girl). So what better place than my favorite whisky haven in Manhattan, Beekman Bar and Books, hosted by the inimitable Ben Scorah. Ben was showing off his limited bottle of Ardbeg Supernova and I thought this was just too good of a pairing to pass up. Here's what I found:
Ardbeg Supernova: <10yrs; 100+ ppm peat; 58.9% ABV
Nose: Fresh ground beef, pepper, fecund soil with smoke through and through, some clove in the background. Nuanced. I felt hungry just nosing it.
Palette: Enormous, explosive and fresh but balanced, meaty and bold. Some earthy sweetness. Faint iodine lingering.
Finish: Mouth entrancing, bog, smoke fire then ash, vegetal and dark wood. First comes on beefy w/ light seaspray, then trails long with pepper and sweet finish.
Outcome: altogether a beautifully balanced mouthful of Islay's southcoast.
Octomore, by Bruichladdich; 5 yrs; Edition -01-1; Launch Ed. - 5627; 131 ppm Peat; 63.5% ABV
Nose: Sweet flowers, light smoke and peat; cumin, heather and leather
Palette: Nicely nuanced: first soft and viscous and warm; then suddenly sparkles then EXPLODES with a star-spangle of peaty fabulousness: lead pencil, earth, flinty rocks.
Finish: Lead pencil filings, new wood, fresh earth, little to no smoke, some chocolate and burnt cocoa. Keeps on going, long and complex, rumbling like a spent volcano.
Outcome: much more nuanced and full of great Islay character than I had originally found. More balance, even a small hint of gentlemanliness.
Every Smackdown has a winner: Ardbeg Supernova, but only by the smallest chunk of peat. While Octomore was super explosive and stunning in its boldness, Supernova showed a touch more class and restraint, teasing somewhere in the finish that there could be more but this was enough. I liked that. It was so un-Palin.