The World’s Peatiest Whisky Series Returns With 4 2026 Expressions

(Photo: Bruichladdich)

On Tuesday, Bruichladdich Distillery unveiled its Octomore 17 Series. The first three expressions in the 2026 iteration of the super-heavily peated Scotch range will be available nationwide beginning Sept. 1. The fourth and final expression, Octomore 17.4, will arrive in the U.S. for the first time — but will come later, in October.

Prices for the series range from $204.99 to $279.99, with Octomore 17.1, 17.2 and 17.3 available through Bruichladdich’s online store and specialist whisky retailers. Octomore 17.4 will be released Oct. 1 in highly limited quantities exclusively online.

The annual Octomore series is built around experimentation with heavily peated barley, provenance and cask maturation. Each release is limited and designed to explore how those variables affect the finished whisky.

Octomore was created to challenge conventional ideas about heavily peated Scotch. Although the whiskies use exceptionally high levels of peat, Bruichladdich claims that it uses its tall, narrow-necked stills to help produce spirits with balance and elegance alongside the intense smoke.

The series is a turn away from scotch releases designed for consistency. Bruichladdich uses younger whiskies, high-PPM malted barley and bottling at or near cask strength to highlight differences between individual releases.

All four Octomore 17 whiskies are conceived, distilled, matured and bottled on Islay. They are non-chill filtered, contain no added color and are brought to proof using Octomore Spring water from Islay.

Octomore 17.1 serves as the foundation of the series. Made from 100% Scottish mainland Concerto barley malted to 81 parts per million (PPM) of phenol, the whisky was matured entirely in first-fill bourbon barrels. Bruichladdich describes the resulting profile as a combination of salt, smoke and sweetness. The U.S. suggested retail price is $204.99.

Octomore 17.2 uses the same 100% Scottish mainland Concerto barley and 81 PPM peating level but takes a different approach to maturation. It spent four years in second-fill French oak casks that previously held bourbon before finishing in first-fill Port wine casks. The whisky carries notes of pepper, citrus and berries and has a suggested retail price of $244.99.

Octomore 17.3 shifts the focus from the cask to the barley’s provenance. The whisky is made with barley grown in Irene’s Field on Octomore Farm on Islay, about two miles from Bruichladdich Distillery. The single-farm, single-field and single-vintage whisky was peated to 132.1 PPM and matured for five years in first-fill bourbon barrels and second-fill Ribera del Duero, Sauternes, Eiswein and Syrah casks. The 17.3 has a suggested retail price of $279.99.

“You don’t get a whisky with greater provenance than this,” Bruichladdich Master Blender Adam Hannett said in a news release. “We know the farmer, we know the field where the barley was grown, and we know this will intrigue whisky drinkers with its peating level of 132.1 PPM.”

Octomore 17.4 Arrives Stateside

The final expression, Octomore 17.4, marks a change for the series in the U.S. Previously reserved for distillery exclusives and limited markets, the .4 expression is coming to American consumers for the first time.

Malted to 108.2 PPM, Octomore 17.4 was matured in first-fill Oloroso sherry casks and finished in French virgin oak. Bruichladdich describes the whisky as combining oak spice and dried fruit with peat smoke and maritime character.

It will carry a U.S. suggested retail price of $249.99 and will be released in highly limited quantities Oct. 1 exclusively online.