
May 18, 2016

A little bunch of Caol Ila

It can happen that all Caol Ila within one single session do fetch very high scores, as it probably is one of the most consistent, and one of the best distilleries. Will that happen again today?

Caol Ila 8 yo 2007/2016 (53.7%, The Whisky Agency, bourbon hogshead, 324 bottles)

Nice labels on these new TWAs. Colour: very pale white wine. Nose: I’d call this ‘after-new-make’, which is the state of whisky just after it reached ‘maturity’, that is to say when it lost the last rough, fermentary and spirity notes/flaws that are inherent to immaturity. That means that this is still totally spirit-driven, but already full of seaweed, fresh almonds, lemon peel, and peat smoke. Very, very clean. With water: wet wool, old tweed jacket, almond oil, damp clay… Mouth (neat): it’s really powerful, and once again I’ve got the feeling that they cranked up the peat levels in recent years. A peppery smoke, plenty of green apple, lemon, oysters, and a drop of Tabasco to go with them. Also a perfect green bitterness. With water: gets even grassier and peatier. Perfect straightness and sharpness, very clean. Finish: long, very well-chiselled, mezcaly. Comments: mezcal indeed, but of course this is smokier than the smokiest mezcal. SGP:467 - 86 points.

Caol Ila 2006/2015 'Whisky of The Year' (52.9%, The Auld Alliance, 156 bottles)

The name’s a joke by the good people at Singapore’s Auld Alliance bar. Disclaimer: “any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.” End of disclaimer. Now the whisky is real. Colour: white wine. Nose: ashier, drier, more austere than the 2007. Hints of fresh rhubarb and sorrel, lime, grass, kelp, damp chalk… With water: the wet tweed jacket is back, and it would come with two Irish Setters – completely wet, of course. We’re sorry, dogs. Mouth (neat): big, sharp, very green, very lemony, with more rhubarb. A touch of mustard – or wasabi, there. With water: rather almondy this time. Barley water, marzipan… Finish: long, very zesty, very similar to that of the 2009. Grapefruit. Comments: same ballpark, same high quality, same freshness, same score. SGP:466 - 86 points.

Caol Ila 9 yo 2006/2015 (51.3%, Sansibar and S Spirits, bourbon, 340 bottles)

This should be very similar… Colour: white wine. Nose: indeed, but this one’s got a little more medicinal notes (iodine, bandages) and perhaps a little more pineapple as well. So it’s a little fruitier. With water: I get more eucalyptus and more wet dogs. Old clothes, touches of truffles… Mouth (neat): excellent, mentholy and earthy, so a little different this time. The pineapples are there too (and lemon, oysters, seaweed, smoke, ashes, seawater… As usual). With water: indeed, it’s a little fruitier. Liquorice allsorts, violet drops, anis bredala (an Alsatian thing)… Finish: medium, with even more sweet liquorice. Grassy smoke. Comments: same high quality, this one’s just a little more deviant, thus a little more interesting. Good, one more point. SGP:556 - 87 points.

Caol Ila 2001/2015 (58.8%, Malt Barn, sherry, 192 bottles)

Colour: straw. Nose: more oak influence, as expected, but it’s still pretty distillate-driven. The combination creates notes of amaretti, and other almondy things, while there’s a whole fruit salad in the background, with even papayas. Some herbal teas, and rather less peat smoke than in the younger siblings. With water: a superb leafy smoke, with a complexity that wasn’t to be seen in the others. It hints at pre-reopening Caol Ila, so very early 1970s. Really. Mouth (neat): very punchy, more citrusy, more minty, and more kind-of-terpenic. Strong peppermint liqueur, more amaretti, and even a few drops of maraschino. Did all that come from the sherry cask? It’s very intriguing. With water: extremely good. It loves water. Liquorice wood. Finish: long, extremely well defined, and yet rather wide. Almonds, saps, smoke, citrus, menthol… Comments: smashing. I almost went for 90. Well done Malt Barn! SGP:556 - 89 points.

Let’s try an older very young sherried one…

Caol Ila 1998/2008 (59.1%, Gordon & MacPhail, sherry, casks #12875+12876)

Colour: gold. Nose: it’s leafier, greener, with more tobacco, earthy tea, walnuts, soy sauce, umami… A different style, a similar very high quality. And let’s not forget that G&M did a lot for Caol Ila, most very old ones coming from their own stable. With water: as often with G&M, the whisky gets cloudy. Chlorine, smoke, pine needles and, perhaps, burning hashish. Mouth (neat): almost like crunching menthol cigarettes while drinking good retsina. Very mentholy, sappy, chartreuse-y, and smoky. This was some cask, it had a lot to say. With water: ah, it doesn’t swim too well, careful with water. Tends to disintegrate, even with a few drops. Finish: long, oily, mentholy, sappy. Comments: what a beast. I’ll never understand the good people that keep telling us that Caol Ila is a gentle, very lightly peated Islayer. SGP:476 - 87 points.

Caol Ila 19 yo 1997/2016 (40.2%, Sansibar and S Spirits, sherry, 599 bottles)

I’m sure it was ‘natural cask strength’. Did they store it in the dampest, coldest warehouse in Scotland? Colour: full gold. Nose: as delicate as an old dry white wine, perhaps a very old manzanilla? Lovely old leather, walnut wine, earth, ‘a city just after the first rain’, many herbal teas, fresh asparagus, old wine cellar, saltpetre, touches of camphor, moss, mushrooms… I short, it’s extremely tertiary. Mouth: something really different. Blind, I’d have said it’s an old peater from G&M’s old ‘brown’ Connoisseur’s Choice series. Burnt walnut cake, a little marmalade, touches of bitter caramel, cedar wood, black tobacco, some kind of dry balsamic vinegar (only cheap industrial ones are sweet anyway), only hints of bitter oranges… I’m not sure it’s technically perfect, but its got many charms, for sure. Finish: a little short, and a little oaky/drying. Eating tobacco. Comments: it hasn’t got the youngsters’ brightness and punch, and sure the peat’s not big here, but it’s got something sexy. Hard to describe. SGP:464 - 85 points.

Tomorrow, part II, some older Caol Ilas. Stay tuned.

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