
October 5, 2020

A little purse of five young Caol Ila

Indeed we’ve had quite a few young Caol Ilas within the recent weeks, but the question is, can anyone have too many Caol Ilas? While I leave you pondering that seminal question, let me please proceed with this wee batch… (some very useful intro yet again, S.!)

Cola Ali 5 11 yo 2008/2020 (58%, Dramfool, finished in PX, 160 bottles)

More exactly, this baby was finished in a First Fill PX hogshead. All right then. Colour: gold. Nose: no straight raisiny PX, rather some kind of smoked and burnt sponge cake, with some wasabi, lemon juice, and all the coastal shebang one would expect from Caol Ila. Balance seems to have been found. With water: metal polish, old toolbox… Mouth (neat): aggressive and brutal, with really a lot of wasabi and lemon juice at first, then wine gums (strawberry) and, this time, raisins in full swing. Big beast. With water: the bonbony sweetness stands out, some briny and lemony elements too. Finish: long, a little mustardy and candy-like at the same time. Not a common feat. Spicier aftertaste, pepper, juniper… Comments: a very unusual Caol Ila, more for fun that for posterity, I suppose. But don’t we all ned fun?
SGP:665 - 84 points.

More madness…

Caol Ila 7 yo 2012/2020 (58.9%, Signatory Vintage for Waldhaus am See St. Moritz, oloroso sherry butt finish, cask #4, 699 bottles)

Caol Ila 7 yo 2012/2020 (58.9%, Signatory Vintage for Waldhaus am See St. Moritz, oloroso sherry butt finish, cask #4, 699 bottles)
A finishing period that’s been 11-months long. A heavy concoction for our Swiss friends up-there-in-the-mountains, I’m sure… Colour: red amber. Nose: rich as a barbecued Mars bar dipped into coffee liqueur, I would say. In the background, mint drops, tarmac, liquorice extracts, stout, caraway oil and the fattest oyster there ever was. With water: nicer, better balanced, more Caol-Ila-ish, that is to say rather fresher and more coastal. Lovely black chocolate and espresso coffee. Cloves. Mouth (neat): could I have a spoon please? Extremely heavy and spicy, hugely extractive, ridden with pine resin, tar and liquorice, menthol, gingerbread and, well, yet another liquefied Mars bar. Big size. With water: ginger and leather coming out, cinchona, tonic water, cinnamon, bitter oranges… Now, nothing abnormal here. Finish: long, on bitters, Coca-Cola (not just the colour), chocolate, marmalade and coffee. A salty touch in the aftertaste. Comments: forgot to say, it’s very peaty too. Do they have a yeti in the Alps too? This is what it would drink.
SGP:567 - 87 points.

Caol Ila 11 yo 2009/2020 (58.8%, Scotch Malt Whisky Society, #53.332, ‘Storm-tossed kelp on an Islay beach’, refill bourbon hogshead, 308 bottles)

Caol Ila 11 yo 2009/2020 (58.8%, Scotch Malt Whisky Society, #53.332, ‘Storm-tossed kelp on an Islay beach’, refill bourbon hogshead, 308 bottles)
It seems that they were sober in Leith when they came up with this name - this time. Colour: pale white wine. Nose: this one’s totally pure, that is to say full of seawater, lime juice, mercurochrome, oysters, crabs, and kelp indeed. With water: hessian, seashells, kippers, whelks, langoustines, squat lobsters, clams, winkles… (I think they got the drift, S.) Mouth (neat): quintessentially Caol Ila, just a tad hot and sugary, but I’m sure that’s the very high strength. With water: indeed. Classic, pristine Caol Ila al natural, with salt, lemon, smoke and stuff from the sea. Finish: same. Medium length. Comments: exactly the opposite of the Waldhaus, but I love them just the same.
SGP:456 - 87 points.

Caol Ila 9 yo 2011/2020 (58.5%, C. Dully Selection, first fill bourbon barrel, cask #101, 262 bottles)

Caol Ila 9 yo 2011/2020 (58.5%, C. Dully Selection, first fill bourbon barrel, cask #101, 262 bottles)
This should be neat and tidy too. Colour: white wine. Nose: yes for iodine and kelp, lemon juice, seawater and just a large plate of oysters. In a way, it’s basic, but that’s exactly what one would expect from a young Caol Ila. With water: superb seaweed, wakame, more oysters yet, a touch of hay and even manure, then a wee hint of white chocolate and vanilla… Mouth (neat): I don’t think I’m using the expression ‘self-evident’ too often, but I believe it would fit here. Once again, some sugary or rather liqueury touches from the high ethanol, which should now go away… With water: indeed. Another simple, ultra-clean and ‘millimetric’ beauty from the Sound of Islay. Finish: rather long and rather more lemony. I know they grow lemons near Ullapool, do they do that on Islay too? I mean, not at the Co-op in Bowmore… The aftertaste is a little bitterer. Comments: same entrancing high brightness.
SGP:456 - 87 points.

As the digestif now, perhaps a much older bottle from what was, in truth, a different distillery?

Caol Ila 12 yo (43%, OB, for Zenith Italy, yellow label, early 1980s)

Caol Ila 12 yo (43%, OB, for Zenith Italy, yellow label, early 1980s)
Bizarrely, this one’s been flipping through my fingers for decades. This is pre-rebuilding Cao Ila, probably distilled in the late 1960s. It’s the 12 that followed the ‘oval white label’ from the early-to-mid 1970s. Or, you’re right, the ‘white oval label’. Colour: white wine. Nose: extremely more medicinal than ‘newer’ Caol Ila, with litres of mercurochrome and seawater as well as a more moderate tarriness, then rather fresh green fruits, granny smith, greengages… Bandages and embrocations are getting pretty obvious too. Whiffs of dry chenin blanc. Mouth: superb albeit a little light(ish) but that’s the low strength and all the time spent in glass. Salted lemon juice, kiwi juice, camphor and eucalyptus (they almost always come as a pair in my book), some tar rather than ashes, a note of sage perhaps, antiseptic… Finish: medium, really much on iodine. A curious touch of smoked pears in the aftertaste. Smoked tea flavoured with bits of dried pear – does anybody make that, by any chance? Comments: perhaps could we say that pre-rebuilding Caol Ila was more medicinal, whilst post-rebuilding Caol Ila is rather more ‘coastal’? Mercurochrome versus seawater?
SGP:455 - 90 points.

Last minute bonus, this one's brand new...

Caol Ila 35 yo ‘Director’s Special’ (50.9%, Single Malts of Scotland, Elixir Distillers, 2020)

Caol Ila 35 yo ‘Director’s Special’ (50.9%, Single Malts of Scotland, Elixir Distillers, 2020)
Picture of an earlier bottling of Caol Ila in the same prestigious series, as this one is brand new and I haven’t seen a picture yet. In theory, this should be a 1984, but that’s only a theory. Colour: light gold. Nose: aren’t these vintages eternal? When trying them you could easily believe that they could go to 100 years old effortlessly, really. The glory of good, well-behaved refill wood! As for what’s in there, well I would mention putty (as always), bergamots and kumquats, soft brown liquorice, a little camphor, a few drops from a very old bottle of Bénédictine, and then, which is just amazing at 35, ‘a walk on the beach at low tide’. Kelp, wet sand, seashells and all that. Even little green crabs. Or there, razor shells and cockles (oh agreed, just any shells). Wow. With water: lovely notes of fresh oil paint, linseed oil, more putty, leather cream… Mouth: oh my is it tight and compact! Citrons, sesame oil, brine, a putty-like almondiness, lemongrass, touches of coriander leaf… Indeed, 100 yo in shy wood, and easily, no problems. With water: fab-tas-tic. A little sweeter (crystallised grapefruit), with a few ashes, more almond paste, rapeseed oil, pips… I’m even finding a little chlorophyl, I think. Finish: rather long and undoubtedly more coastal. Ashes, oysters, lemon juice, kippers, and yet more putty and marzipan. The aftertaste is incredibly fresh. Pink grapefruits. Comments: what a journey. Marvellous ‘old’ Caol Ila that does not taste old at all. And the citrus!
SGP:655 - 92 points.

(Merci François, Mike and Pierre-Alexandre)

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