Octomore 5 yo 2015/2021 12.1 'The Impossible Equation' (59.9%, OB, 1st fill bourbon) 
Distilled from mainland Scottish barley and kilned to 130.8 PPM - for those phenol spotters out there… Colour: pale straw. Nose: I suspect Serge would say 'millimetric', so in other works extremely pure, narrow and precise. A blade of seawater, ash and peat - an epitome of good quality, modern, heavily peated whisky. I also find quite powerful notes of whelks charring over coals, petrol and mercurochrome. With water: rock pools, iodine drops, wet seaweed, burnt sheep wool, coal smoke and bacon fat. Mouth: what's excellent is that it's rather textural as well as very sharp, pure and powerful. I know this sounds silly but it is also quite peaty - which I do not always find to be the case with Octomore where peat flavour often manifests more as seawater, smoke and grapefruit juice. With water: gets deeper and wider now, smokier, sootier, peatier, more sheep wool oils, dried herbs, dung, roof pitch and raw tar! Finish: long, ashy, briny, citric, petrolic and still with this sense of sizzling bacon fat. Comments: Octomore at its raw and no-nonsense best. I had it at 89 but water really helps to propel this one along.
SGP: 468 - 90 points.

Octomore 5 yo 2015/2021 12.2 (57.3%, OB, 1st and 2nd fill bourbon with 1st fill Sauternes finish)
129.7 PPM this time. Sauternes - and some other sweet wines - are occasionally an exception to my general mistrust of wine casks. Let's see what they've been up to in this case… Colour: gold. Nose: farmyard and seashore lashed together with strands of sugar. On first impressions this works pretty well. Some kind of smoked flower honey, dried seaweed, nori, smoked olive oil, seawater, lime juice and hessian. A nicely sharp smokiness comes through over time. With water: cod liver oil, Bakelite, jute bag, black olive tapenade and plasticine. Mouth: the sweetness is still present but once again it works pretty well, the impression of a balancing act underway. Slightly acidic farmyard peat smoke, coal embers, wood ashes, natural tar, petrol and pickling brine. With water: vary tarry, lots of smoke, soot, ashes, camphor and brine. Perhaps more simple and classical peat monster territories now. Finish: long, sooty, briny and showing a slightly more grubby puffer smoke vibe. Anchovy paste and bacon lardons. Comments: a lot of fun and I think very good as the Sauternes involvement has been done quite cleverly. Just runs out of steam a bit towards the end perhaps.
SGP: 567 - 87 points.

Octomore 5 yo 2015/2021 12.3 (62.1%, OB, 75% 1st fill bourbon & 25% 1st fill PX sherry butts) 
118.1 PPM and barley grown on Octomore Farm in 2014. Two parcels of stock matured full term respectively in bourbon and PX sherry. Colour: bright straw. Nose: green olives, wasabi, pickling brine and anchovies in olive oil. There's also even some raw barley sweetness still in there surprisingly. Once again I'm finding this similar impression of deep, bass-like farmyard smokiness as on the 12.1. Here there's also more camphor and more brazen medicinal profile too. Excellent nose! With water: riddled with sooty smoke, rollmop herring, pickling juices, camphor and raw seawater. Also develops this leaner medical side that goes towards bandages and antiseptic. Mouth: very tarry and peppery up front. Glycerine, smoked mead, hessian, carbolic acidity, boiler smoke, iodine and a slightly dirty dried herb aspect. Olive bread, cough mixtures and umami paste. Very salty and tarry. With water: the texture is really impressive now, you feel like you're sipping top notch smoked olive oil. Perhaps a cornichon or two bobbing about in there along with a stray pork scratching. Some kind of peated mead with traces of heather smoke. Finish: long, tarry, leathery, briny and still on many of these impressions of pickling juices, olive oil and fat medicines. Comments: really excellent, and the sherry takes a very quiet back seat here which I think works very well. I suppose I just prefer the 12.1 by a single notch is all. On average though, this is probably my favourite 'batch' of Octomores for a while.
SGP: 567 - 89 points.

Octomore 7 yo 2013/2021 (62.3%, Dramfool 'Jim McEwan Signature Collection', cask #1872, 1st fill bourbon barrel, 256 bottles)
Let's see what the Ken Dodd of Islay had schnaffled away for himself shall we… Colour: straw. Nose: I have to report, that this is lovely. Pure, classical and almost embarrassingly fresh and coastal. Riddled with ozone, shoreline, rock pools, sandalwood and anchovy paste. This evolves more towards fatter, thicker notes of farmyard smoke, hessian canvass and once again this impression of very fine smoked olive oil - which I'm always a sucker for. With water: molten vinyl, camphor, crab sticks, iodine drops and lapsing souchong. Bruised cooking apples, malt vinegar and preserved lemons. Mouth: Zap! Pow! Kersplatt! And many other Batman references. Rather like the 12.1 but with added thickness from extra age. Oily, concentrated peat and phenolics. Soy sauce mixed with Maggi seasoning, natural tar extract, peated heather ales and pure brine. With water: once again a wee apple note, crisp green apple acidity, then heather flowers, natural tar again, richly smoky kiln air and anchovy paste. Gets very umami and peppery. Finish: über long, full of crystalline pure peat smoke, brine, anchovies, dried herbs, soy sauce and seawater. Comments: really superb, I love this big umami, farmyard tang to the smoke. I know we often say peat covers up immaturity in youth, but even so, isn't Octomore a rather speedy whisky?
SGP: 477 - 90 points.

Octomore 13 yo 2007/2021 (57.5%, Dramfool 'Jim McEwan Signature Collection', cask #3807, 1st fill Sauternes barrique, 290 bottles)
Colour: deep gold. Nose: smoked orange blossom, lightly kippery, citrus curds, diesel fumes, tarragon and then grapefruit and seawater. There's a definite tension between the sweeter fruitier components, and the slightly more funky smoky aspects. With water: some greengage, heather flower, beers, dark grained breads and a rather earthy, bass-line smokiness. Wine cellar must - or am imagining things now? Mouth: well, we could very easily be quaffing peated Sauternes. This is surprisingly syrupy, honeyed, sweet and almost viscous with these impressions of nectar, mead, smoked honey and touches of olive oil. The lightest of the bunch which means I'm probably silly for doing this last. With water: silky threads of peat smoke, tiny briny touches, thick olive oil, anchovy paste, Maggi, natural tar, TCP and iodine drops. The peat is more magnified by water I think, and as such it feels more balanced. Finish: long, tarry, that kipper smoke is back, some pink peppercorns, gauze and sweet herbal cough syrup. Comments: If, like me, you have a weird soft spot for Sauternes maturation and peat, then you will probably also really like this. But if you aren't a Sauternes maturation fan then you should probably take a diversion flight via-Mongolia. A very fun, very silly and probably pointless to score whisky* (*shout out to the 'All whiskies are pointless to score' crowd at the back).
SGP: 666 - 88 points.