My favourite Octomore, 4.2 “Comus”, was finished in Chateau d’Yquem Sauternes casks and was amazingly delicious. This new Octomore 10.2 “διάλογος” (the greek name I think means “Dialogue”) is peated quite a bit lower, and is a travel-retail exclusive of 24,000 bottles:
[Octomore 10.2] spent the first four years of its life in fresh bourbon barrels, before being moved into exceptionally high quality, and incredibly rare Sauternes casks. The reputable chateau who originally managed these casks had filled them three times over with French sweet wine.
Side-by-side, the main differences are in age, peatiness, and cask treatment, with the 4.2 Comus getting absolute top-quality Sauternes, but probably only using them for a year or two. Here, we don’t know what kind of Sauternes casks were given, except that they’re third-fill (so not just “seasoned”):
It was a little tricky to get my hands on — I saw bottles floating around in Japan exceedingly rarely at the $400 mark — so I bought 2 bottles from the EU, tax + shipping totalling $207.
- Color: russet (1.35)
- Nose: peat smoke, iodine, candy corn, stewed pears, custard; Kilchoman-esque barnyard straw & horses
- Taste: peaty maple-syrup snow candy, apple pie, malty; thick, sweet dessert wine
- Finish: oily and long, campfire toasted smores, vanilla and a little oak
This is an excellent dessert treat; it’s significantly more laid-back than 4.2/Comus was, but it’s got three years of additional maturation to give it a more refined, statesman-like character. It also continues to be completely unique — I cannot think of any peated whisky that turns up this richly sweet than Octomore putting their juice into Sauternes casks!
Rating: 93/100
