🥃 Whisky Auctioneer

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Fireworks, firecrackers, gunpowder smoke, and the alcohol weren't as strong as I'd imagined, but the peaches and flint still had a pretty strong impact.

Of course, this is not an easy whisky to slurp away. The 70% tempt you to take smaller sips, which gives you more of a dram ;-) The taste curve is very exciting and varied. You always discover something new. The smoke is a bit more reserved, probably due to the 4-fold distillation, but this does not bother. You can still tell. The finish is the highlight for me. Water takes away the initial aggressiveness in his mouth without negatively affecting the taste. So it is worth trying out a little.

F*ck You Very Much Will you look at this? Another Octomore that was hyped so much that it sold out in a flash and fetches almost 400 EUR at auctions – which is ridiculously expensive for a 50cl bottle of a ten years old malt. This is what I call a f*ck you whisky. Even the original price tag of 175 EUR was crazy, but let’s focus on the contents for now. This Octomore was quadruple distilled and is a vatting of bourbon, sherry and wine casks. The nose is obviously prickled at first because of the monstrous ABV, but this certainly is not peaty. It is mostly sweet and fruity on vanilla (and quite a bit at that), butter cream, marzipan and banana, followed by a handful of nuts, pineapple cubes and biscuit pie. Some citrus fruit follows with some late coconut in milk chocolate. Very delicate smoke underlines the fruity character of this Octomore and I think it’s is mostly due to the wine casks. For a moment I am reminded of a dusty log cabin in the mountains… now where did that come from? It would be a bit silly to say this is quaffable, but on the other hand the alcohol is integrated so well, that I don’t feel like I’m sipping a bomb. That’s craftmanship alright. On the palate I first get some rotting wood followed by the sweet fruit from the nose, but also a light salty note. The development of smoke is lovely, without overpowering the fruit – which can by now be called almost tropical: raisins, mandarin, mango, banana, pineapple, apricots and coconut. The nuts return – in my book either almonds or macadamia – while vanilla appears out of nowhere and slowly but surely starts to dominate, while ginger and chili peppers play second fiddle. It works! This is absolutely outstanding. The finish is intense and elegant at the same time, warm then soft, while constantly sweet and smoky. Dry oak at the death. Impressive. Indeed an impressive experiment of the boys at Bruichladdich, but obviously way too expensive for what you get. F*ck you very much. And thanks a lot for the sample, Anthony!

Aroma-Pronounced；Palate-89/100; Aftertaste-Med-Long；

no, it does not fall through, it is exciting and sometimes delicious, the oak is a bit too loud for me, from the extra high New Make alcohol content would have sucked particularly crass and violent aromas out of the wood, the peat, on the other hand, almost sinks. Sometimes it shows nice fruit notes, but they also hang in the background. Perhaps the distillate is too "light" due to the 4-fold burning? In other words, it's an experience and good, but honestly the weakest Octomore I've ever had in a glass.

Beautiful shot of amazing smoke. I would never blindly believe that it has so much alcohol percentage

An extremely smooth and balanced nose, apple crumble with a hint of vanilla, lemon cream, papaya, a slice of pineapple. The peat is in the background, fine, chiseled, discreet. Green seaweed, kelp, a trail of salt. It's very iodine-rich and airy. After a while, you get aromas of cereals, hay, raw young wood, and herbal touches. On the palate, it's spicy but silky, with lychee and white currants, pear, then pepper and clove. A very long, almost endless, finish, extremely powerful, with pieces of charcoal, cumin, a good dose of lime, grapefruit, and asparagus. Vanilla peat full of pebbles. Fresh mint. Despite the very high alcohol content, it's perfectly integrated, and it's magnificent in its smoothness and balance. The peat is truly subtle, and I defy anyone to identify this Octomore in a blind tasting. https://ilikesky2020.blogspot.com/2026/03/octomore-x4-10-concept-02-10-yo.html

Simply wow! The 70% (!) is not noticeable. A very strong but balanced dram. There are drams that are much more lively at 55%.

As the first whisky of the evening really strong on the palate. The 70% are very noticeable. Do not find it easy to discover a certain complexity behind the alcohol and at the first impression, I am really afraid of "too much" water to whet the volume of the whisky. The second sip is a bit more fruity and pleasing therefore. Probably some taste buds are simply not yet recovered. I have notes of smoke, wood, dried fruit, bits of hazelnuts, even light sulfur in the background. The third sip reveals even more fruitiness. Somehow a combination of apples, plums, a light citrus note and cereals. Not easy to fathom. Here in the base he is rated in my opinion primarily for resale with 90 and more points. My first impression lands at 88/89 ... but it is well known that taste can always be argued about.

Undiluted, the nose is very interesting and knows how to convince me. The palate is really very good, I didn't expect that. You should be careful with water. It is definitely worth playing with it. But with a limited supply, I would actually advise you to use it very sparingly first. Overall good with some very good aspects. 88 points.

Not comparable to the Oba

Nose: Despite the 70%, the alcohol is perfectly integrated. The first impression: the barrels did not kill the malt, the Brennereicharakter is still clearly noticeable. It is dominated by sweet notes such as vanilla, shortbread and butter caramel. In the background ripe banana. Roasted almonds. Coconut. The smoke is present but not dominant. With water, fruity notes become stronger (Haribo Tropifrutti!). Mouth: Now the alcohol is noticeable. Chili. Ginger. These are joined by citrus fruits and green apples. Vanilla. With water creamy in the mouth and fruity. finish: The finish is long and warm. Ginger cookies. Cinnamon. Cloves. Almonds. In addition, the typical Octomore smoke, but also in the finish never seems too dominant. The oak is fortunately not too dominant, the impression I had in the nose regarding the barrels used, confirmed.

Well, Octomore 4x-10 Concept. I have rarely seen a run on a release like this time. Bruichladdich's homepage was almost permanently on the ground and it was not possible to complete his order. With luck, the next day somehow worked out in a free hour. Converted around 195 euros including shipping for half a liter of Octomore are an announcement, but as you have seen, there are enough trailers that bought several bottles of it. Is the Octomore worth the money? Everyone has to decide for themselves. Almost 200 euros are not exactly small, especially since you only get half a liter. However, if you are a fan of these whiskys, you can do it before and treat yourself to a bottling. I find it a bit macabre that on the same day of the appearance a few bottles for 450 euros were offered on Ebay and many people only cashed in and therefore "real fans" were often denied the opportunity to try an X4-10 , It's a shame, but I think we have to get used to it in the future. Would it be worth me 400 euros? Never in life, there are clearly "better" whiskys. I already liked the Octomore 10 II from the French white wine barrels very much. This goes roughly in the same direction, only that it can still have the component of the sherry casks. For me, this time there are solid 91 points. Slaintè! Do I really need a second bottle of it? No, not mandatory. I'll keep the second one as an exchange object :)

It's already called Concept. There is also clearly one behind it. However, everything is very closed. I have great difficulty tasting something here. The mouthfeel is interesting. It is impressive, however, that you can drink 70% alcohol so easily. I also thinned it down further, below 50%, but it really wasn't that much fun. Typical Octomore notes are almost completely absent. But isn't that why you drink an Octomore? Full review and a little rant about marketing, flipping and rating (in German): https://keinehalbendrinks.de/2019/12/16/x4-200/