
July 4, 2019

A Caol Ila spiel, part trois

We’re going on, with pride (excuse me?)…

Caol Ila 15 yo 2003/2019 (55.7%, Gordon & MacPhail, Connoisseurs Choice, first fill barrel, cask #19/033, 210 bottles)

Colour: straw. Nose: there’s rather more vanilla in this one, more cinnamon cake, more ginger cake, more custard… Those are signs of a pretty active cask. I’m not saying it dominates the distillate, but you do have a feeling of ‘concoction’. Spicy combo, with the oysters, sea spray and smoky lemons rather in the background. With water: a little sawdust and a light natural soapiness. Supermarket custard. Mouth (neat): big spirit and a kind of Taliskerness, with loads of pepper and cinnamon (from the oak) leading the pack here. So it is not one of those blade-y and well chiseled CIs that we cherish, but we’re still flying high. Some burnt caramel, burnt ginger cake, eating bits of pipe tobacco… With water: water lets the lemon come out, and it would come together with some cardamom. Finish: long, zestier, but the oak spices are still the dance master. Comments: excellent, it’s just that I like my whiskies, including my Col Ilas, with a little less oak impact.
SGP:366 - 83 points.

CI12 2011/2019 (57.5%, Elixir Distillers, Elements of Islay, refill butts)

CI12 2011/2019 (57.5%, Elixir Distillers, Elements of Islay, refill butts)
Cl11 had been very ‘infused’ (WF 84) but this should be different… Colour: straw. Nose: yay, raw beachy stuff and bags of charcoal, also litres of sourdough and a good deal of raw white rhum agricole. I shall not complain. With water: smoky agricole, hessian, dough, damp ashes (when someone’s killed the barbecue)… Mouth (neat): huge, on many liquorice allsorts, lemon gums, fresh agave, and a lot of oyster juice. It may not be totally mature, but that’s a large part of its charms. With water: gets very creamy, more lemony, simple in a good way, perhaps a tad liqueury without being sweet as such. Liqueur de Caol Ila? Finish: rather long, clean, with more fruit gums and always these ashes. Comments: an excellent young beast from where the crabs are the best. I’m not sure they still pour any distillery waste into the Sound (probably not) but I remember the crabs that used to feed on that were just fantastic. Just like the Loch Indaal lobsters!
SGP:557 - 86 points.

Caol Ila 9 yo 2009/2019 (59%, The Single Malts of Scotland, sherry, 282 bottles)

Caol Ila 9 yo 2009/2019 (59%, The Single Malts of Scotland, sherry, 282 bottles)
This is refill, according to the colour. Colour: pale gold. Nose: well, it is the most citric of them all, perhaps the most precise, with exceptional clarity and freshness. Some kind of smoky cachaça this time. Lovely whiffs of grapefruits and hessian, coal ashes, and burnt pine wood. No raisins despite the sherry, we cheer… With water: hessian, dough, fresh baguette, rain-soaked fabric. Mouth (neat): this one’s millimetric indeed, extremely straight, on some ashes, grapefruit, green pepper and sea water combination. All that works a treat. With water: some excellent chenin blanc from the best parts of the Loire Valley. We’ve known some Savennières, for example… Finish: long, grassier, greener, bitterer, but all that in sound measures. Comments: this one’s rather a quaff-monster, so careful at almost 60% vol.!
SGP:456 - 88 points.

Caol Ila 29 yo 1990/2019 (48%, Whisky Nerds, refill oloroso, cask #13129, 192 bottles)

Caol Ila 28 yo 1990/2019 (48%, Whisky Nerds, refill oloroso, cask #13129, 192 bottles)

Excuse me? Could a 1990 be 28 already? Are we sure? Wasn’t 1990 just yesterday, for crying out loud? Colour: gold. Nose: stating that Caol Ila ages gracefully is beating a dead horse. Quince jelly, pâte de lemon (I swear I’ve seen that in a shop window in Scotland), embrocations, hessian, kelp, kippers, mercurochrome, sea water, a wee drop of pastis, fresh almonds, tinned anchovies and sardines… Everything’s well in place! Mouth: takes off slowly but surely, with perhaps a little more soft green oak than expected, rather a lot of tobacco, some sour chutney, more and more salt, and a feeling of bouillon, perhaps. Mussels stewed in almond milk, did anyone try that yet? Some liquorice wood too. Finish: medium, really very maritime, with a discreet lactic side and some sour/bitter herbal teas. Comments: excellent, perhaps just a little more fragile and uncertain than other old CIs that are usually more assertive. Was it reduced?
SGP:465 - 88 points.

Good, we’ve kept two or three older ones for tomorrow…

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