
March 2, 2017

Caol Ila, young ones, part two

Yes we’re back. Let’s only hope these other youngsters won’t be too kerosene-y…

Caol Ila 2004/2016 (46%, Gordon & MacPhail, Connoisseurs Choice)

These ones are usually ex-refill bourbon barrels, but I haven’t got this one’s back label. Let’s assume it is. Colour: white wine. Nose: well in their style and genre. Some smoky buttered dry apple juice and growing hints of fresh mint, dill, and lemongrass. Some liquorice wood too, maybe more than in earlier bottlings. Very nice nose. Mouth: it is the softer side of Caol Ila, to the point where I’m wondering if it’s not a blend of ‘Highland’ Caol Ila and ‘Islay’ Caol Ila. So unpeated and peated. It’s also very citrusy (pink grapefruits) and tends to become appropriately salty. Finish: medium length, and it’s rather fruity and sweet. That’s smoked sweets, in fact. Comments: always very good, easy yet not too easy… SGP:545 - 84 points.

Caol Ila 7 yo 2009/2016 (46%, Càrn Mor, Exclusive to The Whisky Exchange, hogshead, 850 bottles)

A vatting of two very young casks, this is almost bottled barley, yeast, and water. But if the distillate’s pristine, that could work, let’s see… Colour: pale white wine. Nose: smoked Red Bull and plasticine with a little citron and cranberry thrown in. A little teak oil too. Mouth: good. Lemon zests and sweets, a drop of seawater, some sweet barley, some pear liqueur, and a feeling of charcoal. Elementary just like several others, but balance sits there and there are no off-notes. Finish: medium, rather lemony/fizzy. A wee feeling of Spritz. Comments: after all, we must make way for young whiskies. SGP:545 - 84 points.

Young, he said…

Caol Ila 5 yo 2010/2016 (46%, Douglas Laing, Provenance, cask #11321, 476 bottles)

I’m sure we’ll soon see bottled new make again (B.P.S.) Colour: very pale white wine. Nose: well in the style of the Carn Mor, only with rather more plasticine, tung oil, and perhaps more mashed vegetables. Perhaps not totally some whisky to nose? Mouth: lemon and lime playing first fiddles, and plasticine on the double bass. Sweets and jellies, marshmallows, chewing-gums… It really feels very young, but since the spirit is clean and fresh, all this works, even if it is rather eau-de-vie-ish. Finish: medium, fruity. More lemon sweets. A little chlorine in the aftertaste? Comments: bizarrely, I do not get a lot of smokiness from this fine youngster. SGP:534 - 83 points.

Caol Ila 2006/2016 (52.2%, Whisky-Doris, bourbon hogshead, cask #303049, 310 bottles)

More years, and perhaps a higher complexity. Colour: very pale white wine. Nose: indeed, more signs of maturity. Linseed oils and several other oils, kiln, yellow peaches, damp earth, clay, liquorice and gentian roots… This is all we like at WF Towers! With water: your old tweed jacket after a long walk in Islay’s rain. Right, a walk on Islay. Mouth (neat): excellent, crystalline, slightly Fanta-ish, faintly peppery, smoky, brine-y, and even a wee tad mustardy. With water: perfect. Tangerines and mangos coming out! Finish: medium, sitting exactly where fruits, seawater, and peat smoke meet. Comments: it seems that generally speaking Ten is a minimum. No ten, no deal. SGP:546 - 87 points.

There may be more tomorrow…

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

Looks like I forgot to publish these...

February 2017

Favourite recent bottling:
Bunnahabhain 42 yo 1973/2016 (47.9%, Signatory Vintage, refill sherry butt, cask #12145, 427 bottles) - WF 91

Favourite older bottling:
Speyside Region 41 yo 1969/2010 (54.3%, The Whisky Agency, The Perfect Dram, bourbon hogshead, 195 bottles) - WF 92

Favourite bang for your buck bottling:
Springbank 10 yo (46%, OB, 2016) - WF 92

Favourite malternative:
Appleton Reserve 20 yo (43%, OB, Jamaica, ceramic jug, +/-1975) - WF 93

	January 2017
	Favourite recent bottling: Glenfarclas 1979/2016 (46.9%, OB, for Eiling Lim, cask #8818, 188 bottles) - WF 92 Favourite older bottling: Ardbeg 1966/1992 (50.5%, Scotch Malt Whisky Society, #33.13) - WF 91 Favourite bang for your buck bottling: None Favourite malternative: Hampden 16 yo 2000/2016 (44%, Compagnie des Indes, cask #JHPF01, 631 bottles) - WF 92

December 2016

Favourite recent bottling:
Springbank 14 yo 2002/2016 (47.7%, Cadenhead, Authentic Collection, bourbon barrel, 168 bottles) - WF 92

Favourite older bottling:
Clynelish 20 yo 1965/1985 (46%, Cadenhead, black dumpy) - WF 96

Favourite bang for your buck bottling:
Caol Ila 2005/2016 (57.3%, Gordon & MacPhail, Cask Strength, casks #301521, 301523, 301524, 301527) - WF 89

Favourite malternative:
Fine Champagne 50 yo (70% proof, Hedges & Butler, 1950s) - WF 92