Octomore 6.3 Islay Barley is the first release of the uber-experimental cult classic to be distilled using 100% Islay-grown barley. The crop was sown in 2008 by James Brown in the field known as Lorgba on his Octomore Farm. This lies close to the western shore of Loch Indaal on the Rhinns of Islay, and within sight of the village of Port Charlotte.
This is a single malt whisky distilled from the most heavily peated barley in the world. Always experimental and pushing the boundaries of the possible, a stratospheric 258ppm was coaxed into the grain by the skillful maltsters at Bairds in Inverness, a remarkable 89ppm more than the previous high of 169ppm they achieved prior to the distillation of the legendary Octomore 5.1.
The trickle distillation was slow, almost painfully. The spirit then matured for five years in Bourbon, slumbering peacefully in the warehouses on the shore of Loch Indaal before being bottled at the Harvey Hall in Bruichladdich distillery. This is natural whisky, un-chill filtered and colouring free, a tiny amount of water from the spring at Octomore Farm being used to give an abv of 64%.
The Islay Barley release is the third expression of the sixth series (6.3) of the enigmatic single malt which occupies a category of its own in the world of Scotch whisky. Releases are numbered in accordance with provenance and style, those designated .1 being distilled using barley sourced from the Scottish mainland and maturing in ex-Bourbon casks, those designated .2 having additional cask enhancement, and those designated .3 being distilled from Islay-grown barley.
