July 17, 2015

Heat wave special, a bunch of…

We’re still recovering from the heat wave (which isn’t totally over, mind you.) Perhaps we should try to find some refreshing malt whisky… Like, Caol Ila?

Caol Ila 12 yo (43%, OB, +/- 2014)

Everybody keeps saying that Caol Ila’s the gentle, light peater from Islay, but you know what, I’ve always thought Caol Ila wasn’t that gentle and light. We’ll have some examples soon, but first things first, let’s retry the official 12. Colour: white wine. Nose: more medicinal than you’d think, smokier than you’d think, and more coastal than you’d think. Band-aid, beach bonfire, iodine, then white bread, leaven, grapefruits, and seawater. It is relatively lighter than its bros from the south shore of Islay, but in no way ‘light’. Mouth: keyword, balance. Lime, smoke, bitter marzipan, cigarette ashes, whelks (I’m sorry, whelks – hold on…), leaves, bitter grass, apple peelings… If this is light whisky, I’m Taylor Swift. Finish: not short, a little acrid, very smoky, salty, ashy… There’s this feeling of ‘eating an ashtray’ that doesn’t go too well with the concept of lightness. Does it? Comments: it’s the strength that’s a tad problematic, perhaps. There’s a wee feeling of coitus interruptus that may come from the 43% vol. Other than that, it’s an excellent smoky tipple IMHO. SGP:356 - 84 points.

Caol Ila 18 yo 1995/2014 (46%, Signatory Vintage for LMdW, refill butt, cask #10031, 797 bottles)

Colour: white wine. Nose: there’s a sweeter side at first nosing, some funny hints of ripe kiwis, then vivid notes of chenin blanc, ala Vouvray sec (François Chidaine’s, of course) or Jasnières (Eric Nicolas’, of course). Sure the Band-aidy notes are there, and so are the smoke, the ashes, the brown coal, the seashells… But yeah, what’s striking here is chenin blanc. Smoky chenin blanc. Mouth: this is dry. Drier than the official 12, and drier than any chenin. Bites a bit for a while (cracked black pepper), then displays a lot of almondy notes, and gets then very, very ashy. Not just a regular ashtray, rather an Ibiza ashtray around eight in the morning. Yep, including those things. Finish: sharp, salty, lemony, tense, chiselled. Somebody should try to smoke chenin grapes prior to pressing, one day… Any volunteers? Comments: not much sherry in this sharp blade. In fact, there might be less sherry than in an ex-bourbon cask. Quality’s undeniably high. SGP:457 - 86 points.

A last one… but we’ll have many more Caol Ilas in the coming days, I promise!

Caol Ila 17 yo (43%, Dun Eideann, decanter, +/-1995)

Oh well, I thought we could try an older CI of the same age, by the same bottler (these Dun Eideanns used to be done by Signatory). I’ve written ‘+/-1995’ but that may have been ‘+/-1990’. Mid-to-late 1970s distillation, in any case, so immediate post-rebuilding. Colour: white wine. Nose: rounder and fruitier, with notes of, say, medicinal bananas? Old white wine? Typically old Caol Ila, probably subtler than today’s drops, and certainly less smoky. Some kind of jelly beans. It’s lovely, but it’s not ‘immediate’. Mouth: so funny! And whacky! It’s big, extremely lemony and zesty, with some lemongrass, unripe gooseberries, then some hessian, graphite, a feeling of gravel… The whole’s a tad shaky, perhaps, less well-defined than modern bottlings, but it’s got some dazzling sparks of medicinalness (come on!) Almond oil and lemons, more hessian, a touch of chalk, some bitter herbs, peels and leaves… I’d have thought it would be an easy dram – it’s not. Finish: the hardest part. Everything got a little bitter, and unless you’re willing to intellectualise your whisky, it’s become difficult. All right, a little too bitter. Comments: rather for Caol Ila exegetes. Some sides are brilliant, while others are probably a little too… bitter. SGP:375 - 79 points.

We’ll have more Caol Ila in the coming days…

Check the index of all Caol Ila I've tasted so far