The Octomore Edition 15.1 is a super heavily peated Islay single malt Scotch whisky from the Bruichladdich Distillery and forms the basis of the experimental Octomore 15 series. For this limited edition bottling, only 100 per cent Scottish Concerto barley was used, which was malted to an exceptionally high peat content of 108.2 PPM. The whisky was distilled in 2018 and subsequently matured for five years entirely on the island of Islay. For the maturation, Bruichladdich opted for a combination of first-fill bourbon casks and refilled ex-bourbon casks, thereby deliberately blending the intense peaty smoke with the distillery’s characteristic profile and the influence of American oak. Despite its young age, the Octomore 15.1 is thus a prime example of the uncompromisingly smoky yet precise character of the Octomore range.

The Octomore 15.1 Limited Release 2024 is bottled at a robust 59.1% ABV, without chill filtration and without the addition of colouring. For years, Bruichladdich has pursued the aim with Octomore of exploring the possibilities of extremely heavily peated single malts, focusing not merely on the high PPM value but on the interplay of barley, distillation, cask and Islay maturation. Edition 15.1 exemplifies this approach in a comparatively purist form, as the bourbon cask maturation allows the heavily peated distillate to come into its own. The combination of 108.2 PPM, five years’ Islay maturation, Scottish Concerto barley and 59.1% ABV makes this limited release a quintessential Octomore bottling for connoisseurs of particularly intense Peated Malts.