OCTOMORE SERIES 17 SUPER HEAVILY PEATED
SINGLE MALT SCOTCH WHISKY
ISLAY, SCOTLAND
The Octomore series has made defying whisky orthodoxy its personal mission … and boy, have they ever succeeded!
Conventional wisdom says that anything over 30 parts per million (PPM) of phenols qualifies as "heavily peated,” but the mad scientists over at Bruichladdich decided that that was merely a starting suggestion. Edition 17th, their latest, tops out at a brain-bending 132.1 PPM, putting it in the uppermost register of the most intensely peated whiskies on Earth.
But, as Whisky Reviewer and others wrote of the justly lauded Edition 16: “please don't forget to appreciate the flavors present behind, in front of, and alongside the peat monster[s].”
It’s an especially apt reminder, we think, for Edition 17, which might just be the most complex and layered Octomore has ever released.
Head distiller Adam Hannett puts it perfectly: these whiskies shouldn't work on paper. In other words, based entirely on their peat levels, they ought to be one-dimensional disasters with no depth. Instead, thanks to his team's obsessive attention to barley quality and masterful cask management, these phenolic beasts have been transformed into something not just intense, but complex, and (dare we say it?) nuanced.
In all 3, the peat is integrated so seamlessly that the drinking experience becomes less about oily intensity and smoke and more about dimensionality and depth.
The 17.1 (81.0 PPM; 119.4 proof) is, you might say, the traditionalist of the three: it spent a full-term in first-fill bourbon barrels, and it shows. On the nose, vanilla milkshake, caramel fudge, and warm custard tart, then wave after wave of dry, earthy smoke and smoldering oak beneath. A welcome (and wonderful) thread of salinity runs through it all, acting as a check on the sweetness
The 17.2 (81.0 PPM; 119 proof) takes the most surprising route of the three, having aged for years in second-fill French oak that once held Californian red wine, then bourbon casks, then a final year in first-fill Port barriques. The result is like nothing Octomore has ever produced: a vivid burst of strawberry, blackberry, and cassis that plays out against a steadily building peat smoke, lemon zest and lime oil lending brightness and lift. Peppery, earthy, and quietly seductive
The 17.3 (132.1 PPM; 121.8 proof) is the series' fullest statement, built entirely from Octomore Farm-grown Islay barley and matured across first-fill bourbon and second-fill Ribera del Duero, Sauternes, Eiswein, and Straw wine casks. It’s an intense and driving ride, but not without a host of other pleasures along the way. Salted caramel and smoked apple arrive first, praline and vanilla cream close behind, and then comes the peat, which ends the experience with a deep, ashy smoke that still somehow manages to convey lively hits of citrus and salinity
We can't wait for you to taste these for yourself.
For fans of the Octomore series, of course, this is a no-brainer of a buy, but this offer is not just for passionate loyalists.
These are phenomenal whiskies, from a team that refuses to be satisfied with good enough, or even great enough, and that wants, above all, to deliver what’s never been done before.
And, as any good artist or scientist can tell you, the most interesting discoveries happen when you're brave enough to defy the safe, the known, the accepted, the ordinary.
Edition 16 flew out of here quickly, so you’ll want to jump on this one quickly!
*Offer NOT valid in-store. This offer is made pre-arrival, with wines estimated to be delivered to your preferred store in Fall 2026. All sale prices are the lowest available at Total Wine & More and ONLY valid through Concierge Sales. No further discounts or coupons may be applied. The price reflected on your order form is subject to change after the order is placed in the event of a change in tariffs or taxes that are imposed by the U.S. government, or in the case of currency fluctuations of 10% or greater. Offer not valid in GA, KS, LA, MI, NC, NE, NM, NY, OK, SC, TN, VA, & WA. This offer will expire on Sunday, August 23, 2026.