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Water of Life – An Ode to Octomore

Victor Hugo quipped something along the lines of the ode living upon the ideal, the epic upon the grandiose, the drama upon the real.

If the aforementioned holds true, Octomore resides in the sublime.

We have covered the emissions of the progressive Hebridean distillers Bruichladdich before and shed light on both their peated and non-peated drops, all of which proved to be immensely enjoyable.

However, Bruichladdich’s Octomore is a category in itself. Yes, it might be touted as the “smokiest” drop on this earthround, but it does certainly not have to hide behind the phenolic novelty factor.

I fondly remember the first dram of Octomore I had, i.e. the 8.1 expression, which not only left me smacking my lips but changing the way I experienced peat and smoke.

See, a whiskey from Islay has yet to disappoint me. Sure, there might be ones that are overshadowed by others, but if a random pub has Islay whiskies on its shelves, I instantly feel like the respective etablissement has something to it.

Octomore plays in another league and it goes without saying that I was mildly excited when I received an invitation to sample its recently launched, exclusive 10 series.

I would not go as far that I was as excited as Jordan Belford when his companion surprised him with the last Lemmon 714 Quaaludes, but I guess the release of a new Octomore expression comes close to a wine aficionado getting to sample a vintage Chateau Margaux.

Giddy as kid on Christmas, Bruichladdich’s ambassadors framed the new and youngest release in their exquisite portfolio in an informative and engaging presentation on the merits of Octomore 10.1, Octomore 10.3 Islay Barley, and Octomore 10.4 Virgin Oak.

Eventually the time came to experience the 10.1: Aged at five years in first-fill American casks and peated to 107 parts per million, bottled at 59.8% ABV, and limited to 42,000 bottles, the experience was different to Octomore expressions I had previously sampled.

Different as in more subtle, more nuanced and with a mesmerizing fruitiness tickling the nostrils.

The briny smokiness is omnipresent; however, it is not overwhelming.

What hit the top of the roof was a wonderfully calibrated mélange of sugary nuances resting on a bed of spicy peatiness that leaves enough room for peachy and honey-esque highlights to shine through.

Just when I thought it had peaked, the elongated finished upped the ante with a fulminant salted caramel exit.

An experience.

Octomore 10.3 has been aged for one more year, peated to 114ppm, bottled at 61.3% ABV, and limited to 24,000 bottles.

Being introduced as a “single field, single vintage, single malt” release, expectations were high and not disappointed, however, overshadowed by the immense impression the 10.1 left.

The baby in the lineup was the Octomore 10.4.

The complexity of this drop is hard to fathom given that it has only been aged for three years.

The 10.4 took me on a flavor journey as despite its high alcohol content and Octomore’s trademark phenolic, sulfurous peat and iodine punch, it was by far the most refined dram that benefits from having been matured virgin Limousine French oak casks, with a high toast designed to lessen the wood’s naturally high tannin impact and its dry, fruity and at times floral character.

Summa summarum, the Octomore 10 series is another masterstroke of a distillery that not only banks on the tried and proven, but skillfully explores sophisticated nuances and consistently pushed the envelope with subtleties in an area where usually the only feature that counts is one dimensional charry, intense smoke.

A uniquely complex, intricate and harmonious release that soothes the peat gods and lingers sheer endlessly.

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photo from company website

In Vino Veritas – Moorilla and Domaine A

Claiming that I harbour a weak spot in my left chest for anything related to Tasmania would be an understatement par excellence.

At least twice a year I carve my way to Hobart for their annual winter festival Dark Mofo, which we have covered extensively throughout the years, as well as new exhibitions and the indulge in what the island has to offer.

MONA comes with many things outside the confines of art and Moorilla Estate complements their offerings on the vino front.  Being the second winery to be established in Tasmania in the twentieth century, the estate is not only iconic because of its affiliation with MONA but also because of the fact that it is situated next to the actual site of MONA in a manner that leads into the Derwent River.

The vineyard has established its name as one that consistently produces quality textural drops with its head honcho Conor van der Reest having set the ship on course for a route that is paved with (inter-)national accolades.

Needless to say that MONA’s aesthetic DNA is tangibly present in every fact of the label designs, the bottles, down to corkage, which are not merely superficial features but ones that significantly accentuate and enhance the indulgence.

One of the favourites from Moorilla is their shiraz, or “Syrah” with a complexity that covers the spectrum from peppery smokiness via meaty berry-heavy fruitiness to tannins that are calibrated at just the right level of textured chalkiness. If you like reds and breadth of flavour, chances are that you will fall in love after a dance with Miss Syrah.

The other stalwart drop is their sparkling rose?. Now, the fact that rose? is normally not exactly my chalice of wine should give an indication of how good this one must be if it materializes amongst my faves. I love the acidity, which embeds its Pino Noir-esque fruitiness and recommend it as an aperitif to transition proceedings eventually to richer drops.

Should you have the privilege of visiting MONA, you should try the wines alongside a meal at MONA’s hatted flagship restaurant The Source, a place that has become infamous for many a debaucherous party and that is fronted by the Moorilla Wine Bar, which offers seasonal treats, share plates, and house-made breads and pastries with Moorilla and Domaine A wines.

Established in 1973, Domaine A is the winery MONA recently acquired and a perfect match for Moorilla as its wines grow on ancient soil and revel in a temperate cool climate, which is then embedded by the best practises and best features of old and new world styles and approaches to wine making.

Case in point:

Lady A 2016, a grande old dame whose golden hues are complemented with a bouquet of citrussy and vanilla aromas, which tickle the nostrils with an array of woody and oaky nuances. What materializes on the palate is creamy and continues down the lemony route before culminating with a lingering finish that adds nutty and chocolatey flavours to the mix.

A drop that is subtle yet leaves one smacking one’s lips – be it an accompaniment to fish or on its own.

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photo from company website

Renoir: The Body, The Senses

Clark Art Institute

Impressionism is one of the more underrated genres when it comes to mainstream recognition, specifically the genre that focuses more on experimentalism.

There are few that reached the league of Pierre-Auguste Renoir dominated, an artists that diligently honoured classical traditions and infused them with his own idiosyncratic style that eventually coined a whole new genre with the main subject matter being the nude.

While a lot of artists treated the nude as an end in itself, Renoir approached it from a myriad of angles for personal expression.

This book examines carefully the way Renoir depicted the human body with all its nuances, beauty and flaws and does thereby not merely scratch the surface by highlighting the hedonist attributes but goes deeper as it examines the idea of voyeurism and sexism as well as the way in which the artist skilfully combined neo-classicist and impressionist influences.

Opulently illustrated, the tome features Renoir’s major works across different media, i.e. paintings, sculptures as well as everything in between. The fantastic quality of the paper and printing add another dimension and nuance fully display as symbiosis Renoir created with form, movement, emotion and colour.

The man’s paintings radiate heat and intensity without relying on the subject matter.

There are few artists that mastered sensuality, naturalist depictions and temperance in the way Renoir did and by juxtaposing his emissions with those of his followers show the immense influence he exerted over the world of art at large.

I Do Not Know What It Is I Am Like: The Art of Bill Viola

Yale University Press

Bill Viola has long been on my lists or artists to check out and this tome proved to be a formidable entry point to access his body of work because it is based on his survey show, “I Do Not Know What It Is I Am Like: The Art of Bill Viola”.

For the uninitiated, Bill Viola works with a range of media and one of his foci is the dance with video art and subtle sound elements that not only enhance the visual parts of his installations but often are separate pieces of art in themselves.

The book with its essays does a good job illumination Viola’s cluster of works, focusing on bigger pieces, immersive experiences and different ways of looking at the moving image.

Needless to say that the importance of sound is difficulty to catch in book form, however, it is expertly weaved into the portrayal of how Viola channels the alchemy of his early childhood memories into large screen, slow-motion works, gorgeous colours and mystical iconography.

Despite Viola’s often soft approach, there is something immensely powerful that pervades every facet of his art – a power that comes about organically in a non-forceful and non-doctrinaire way.

Be it silent mourning or ecstatic bliss, Viola’s art has been likened to religious experiences by his aficionados and this tome does an excellence job highlighting the recurring emphasis on slow motion and the awareness of being. Given that, it is not further wondrous that Viola prefers to exhibit his art in cathedrals and churches.

Viola’s art likes from the viewer’s interaction with it and this catalogue whets one’s appetite to move closer to the man and his emissions in their intended natural surroundings and original scenarios they were meant to be embedded in.

Water of Life – Whipper Snapper Distillery

Upshot

As part of our Water of Life series, we have covered whisky from terra australis in many variations, however, the focus so far has mainly been set on the east coast.

Looking at Western Australia, where the world’s remote city Perth is located, picking might be slimmer in terms of quantity but not quality.

Case in point - Whipper Snapper Distillery, an entity dedicated to hand crafting a range of premium, whiskeys with a conscience and a passion for provenance, i.e. an emphasis on sourcing ingredients locally and sustainability.

Whipper Snapper’s golden amber coloured Upshot has greeted me times over from the shelves of distinguished liquor merchants, yet it was not until recently that upon opening a bottle, an appealing melange of vanilla, toffee notes, spicy undertones, bit of acetone and cedar tickled my nostrils.

Texture-wise, the drop is an exercise par excellence in creaminess that is accentuated in the flavour department by caramelly, nutmeggy, touches of steamed milk, pepper and butterscotch highlights, which seamlessly transitions into an elongated finish that again is delightfully heavy on vanilla, pears toffee and underlying sweet maple syrup flavours.

Clocking in at 43% ABV, the hybrid of grains, corn, malt and wheat that comprises Upshot could be classified as a very Australian version of a well-calibrated, very accessible, smooth Bourbon that has something to offer both for the uninitiated, uneducated palate as well as the aficionado.

Upshot’s flavours are breathing out quite nicely, youthful but well-polished with a lovely progression and an ideal drop to transition into summertime.

Word around the campfire has that Whipper Snapper has recently brought forth a Quinoa Whiskey, which given how thoroughly impressed the staple of their line-up left me, sparked both my curiosity and imagination and I hope to be able to feature the drop soon as part of our series.

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photo from company website