Caol Ila again


January 26, 2022

Caol Ila again
Caol Ila superstar. There's a lot, let's have a few at random, for more fun (s***w verticales and any other kinds of unnecessary logics). I'd also like to take this opportunity to toast the birth of Angus's first wee lass, who was just born, right on Burn's Night ! Congratulations to the happy parents, that's going to be one lucky baby.

Caol Ila 10 yo 2011/2021 (52.7%, Thompson Bros. for Kirsch Import, Germany, 328 bottles)

Did you know that the Thompson Brothers do speak German and that they could recite Goethe or Schiller (or Caol Ila) without blinking an eye? Next time you're up there in Dornoch, just ask them. Colour: gold. Nose: pristine, ultra-ashy, bordering rubberness. A wee acetic side, lovely. With water: shoe polishes of all colours. Pretty woke. Mouth (neat): fattish, rich, oily, tropical. Guava and avocado syrup coating lemony marzipan and a very rubbery ashiness. Burnt tyres and cigar ashes. Perhaps a little thick, no? With water: no. Many polishes, which I always enjoy. Also the greenest lemons and, indeed, oysters (check the label). And a drop of Tabasco, naturally. Finish: long, rooty, a little gritty. Comments: it's young but it's got the attributes of an older one. Like, 15 instead of 10. Rather a fat one.
SGP:466 - 87 points.

Caol Ila 11 yo 2010/2021 (58.2%, Signatory Vintage for The Whisky Exchange, refill sherry butt, cask # 316662, 558 bottles)

Everything should go well here, although, sherry and peat… Colour: amber. Nose: sour oloroso and coal tar, cigars, green walnuts, carbolineum, varnish, cider vinegar and, well, onion soup. Feels a bit like Thin Lizzy at 5am. Yep, I know this is not Irish. With water: old guns and new umami sauce. Pretty glutamate-y. Mouth (neat): sherry and peat that work. Roasted chestnuts, caramelised pecans, black nougat, a tiny olive and some pipe tobacco. With water: caramel and demerara sugar all over the place, even the smoke's been kept under wraps here. Finish: very long, soupy. More smoky onion soup and hoisin. Tar and smoke in the aftertaste. Comments: you never know, after thirty years in glass, these could reach 93+. Whisky's about long term anyway, is it not.
SGP:556 - 87 points.

Caol Ila 9 yo 2012/2021 (54.6%, Cadenhead, Authentic Collection, bourbon hogshead, 300 bottles)

My God, 20212, that's last night! Colour: light gold. Nose: very typical young Cola Ila. Mercurochrome, oysters, granny Smith, seawater, a little vanilla fudge, aaaaand repeat. Mercurochrome, oysters, granny Smith… With water: flour, oats, porridge, hessian, and back to mercurochrome, bandages, oysters and new sweater. Mouth (neat): ultra-clean, well-streamed, flawless Caol Ila. Limoncello, oysters, Worcester sauce, fudge from the oak. With water: perhaps a little fat, but really good. Finish: long, salty. Notes of smoked salmon. Comments: surely very good but I prefer them even cleaner and rather ex-dead wood. Still up there with the better ones.
SGP:545 - 84 points.

Caol Ila 11 yo (58.9%, Scotch Malt Whisky Society, #53.361, 'Ham in a peat kiln', 302 bottles, 2021)

A Queen Street Exclusive. That's Edinburgh, where the food is fabulous and the staff rather entrancing (believe me). Colour: white wine. Nose: I'm a little sorry, but hello? Butter, kelp, whelks and fresh almonds. That's all nice, but a little simple. With water: bitter almonds and a terpenic side. Not utterly flabbergasting. Mouth (neat): good salty seafood. Very salty, actually, which is a little intriguing. Some bitterish herbs. Not too sure. With water: a little bitter, a little burnt, a little unpleasant. Finish: long and a little burnt. Acidic aftertaste. Comments: very tough young boy from near Port Askaig. Feels a bit like a random, unnecessary cask, if I may.
SGP:356 - 79 points.

Another downward spiral, it seems… We need to act!

Caol Ila 13 yo 1996/2009 (46%, Chieftain's, Médoc finish, cask #90301/307, 2490 bottles)

We agree, a Médoc finish doesn't make the slightest sense, unless it would have been one of the very rare white Médocs such as white Margaux, white Chasse-Spleen (very good by the way) or Mouton's Ailes d'Argent. Or else… But sadly, it was probably a red… Colour: gold with salmony hues. Nose: good, okay, I agree, this is not unpleasant, with some fresh hazelnuts, sunflower, tapioca and just grist. No lousy red berries this far, that's sorted (don't get me wrong, love them… in my red wine). Mouth: dissonant, honestly. Metallic, oddly herbal, with notes of geranium and cherry stems. Finish: medium, on no-notes. More geranium leaves, green figs, things like that. Comments: a concoction of the past, I believe no one's making them like this anymore. This is why we've got immense faith in progress.
SGP:364 - 72 points.

Caol Ila 10 yo 2010/2021 (58.1%, Whisky Facile, 'Nobody Ever Sailed Past Me', refill sherry butt, cask #216624)

Sounds like a statement by Sir Francis Chichester. Colour: amber with red hues. Nose: truffles, gas, old guns, exhaust, game (poultry, grouse), Maggi, raspberry vinegar. With water: more Maggi, miso, old Pauillac, cabernet, rubber. Frankly, it's a little tough and Falstaffian. Utterly adore this definition found on the Web: "having the qualities of Falstaff, especially his robust, bawdy humour, good-natured rascality, and brazen braggadocio". Hurray, love that!!! Mouth (neat): a little monstrous. Raspberry wine, soot, rubber and bell pepper. With water: rather around Nebbiolo, in fact. Cassis leaves and buds. Finish: long more on cherries and almonds. Comments: as Biden or Trump would say, to be honest, this is not my preferred style of Caol Ila. Now within this style, it is probably one of my favourites. All right, I know you got the drift. What's rather low here is the drinkability index.
SGP:375 - 85 points.

More CI very soon.
(Merci Lucero)

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