CAOL ILA 2001 - ADELPHI

It's been quite a while since I reviewed a whisky from from Islay's largest distillery, Caol Ila... actually its been as much as 15 months, so its about time, don't you think? :-)

Since I don't drink as much peated whisky as I used to, I really try to take my time with what I try and this was no exception. First I tried this at the Islay tasting I hosted in November and again at home later on another occasion with plenty time and a fresh(er) palate...

Anyway, here's my review...

Old scale at Caol Ila with the Paps of Jura in the background, June 13th 2007 © The Malt Desk

Caol Ila 2001 11yo (b. 01.2013) 60,6%, refill sherry cask#303802, 280 bottles, Adelphi

Colour is pale straw

Nose:
Very closed down at first but turning quite fresh and sweet after a while. Some brine and salt nips come through with grape fruit/peel, vanilla and the ever present peat

Taste:
At first lots of alcohol but then a peat rush, smoky bacon, vanilla, apple - all delivered by a very oily mouthfeel. Water brings out a slight white wine edge along with some citrus notes and turning the whole thing into a rather ashy and sooty affair. The finish gives off bags of peated peanuts

This is a real bruiser so go easy with this one! It's far from the most complex of whiskies, but its good fun!

83/100!

CAOL ILA 1982 - SIGNATORY

Do visit Caol Ila of you get to Islay... vist for the sheer size of the place, now able to produce 6,5 million liters of spirit a year. Its been the largest distillery on Islay for years and now its even bigger! Located just beside the village and ferry berthing of Port Askaig it enjoys pretty much the same view as Bunnahabhain a little further north. That said, the Bunnahabhain site is much more tranquil, as I've also mentioned in other posts. Oh, also if visiting, remember that Caol Ila is a Diageo site, so no pictures inside of the production areas.

Caol Ila is also the whisky to go for if you want something similar in style to Port Ellen and not want to pay for what equals a booster rocket for a Space Shuttle. Especially older Caol Ila like the one I'm about to review, are similar to similar aged Port Ellens in style.

That's the peated Cal Ilas covered - do also try the unpeated versions!! well, relatively unpeated that is. The style is called 'Caol Ila Highland' but up until the recent 14yo release there has still been a noticeable peat influence in them... but they're fun to try for sure :-)

Now onto the review...

Old fashioned cask scale outside Caol Ila, October 8th 2008 © The Malt Desk 

Caol Ila 1982 29yo (14.12.1982/05.12.2012) 57,1%, Hogshead#6485, 263 bottles, Signatory

Colour is full straw

Nose:
Mellow peat, oak, coastal (brine and seafront), nutmeg, some fruit and plastic ropes. Getting slightly medicinal with time

Taste:
Smoky, salt water, citrus, tarry, grilled shellfish and a mineral notes as in warm rocks cut by a diamond blade and salted peanuts

A very nice older Caol Ila for sure! ... and certainly on par with some of the overpriced Port Ellens you can find out there.

87/100!

CAOL ILA 1991 53.171 'STRANGELY FASCINATING' - THE SCOTCH MALT WHISKY SOCIETY

Let's review another Caol Ila from the SMWS while we're at it.

Caol Ila on-site warehouse - August 2009 © The Malt Desk

Caol Ila 1991 53.171 (15.01.1991/xx.09.2012) 21yo 'Strangely Fascinating' 52,7%, refill ex-bourbon hogshead, 253 bottles, The Scotch Malt Whisky Society

Colour is white wine

Nose:
Vanilla, citrus, fresh wet flower bed, ale notes, ginger, oily - crushed sunflower seeds, the peat smoke is fairly laid back inthis one.

Taste:
How do they got so much coastal character in a whisky? Seaweed and fresh salty breeze, smoky fruits - like roasting them on a stick over a bonfire. Very light in style and ery candy like. Peat and spices mid to end palate balances things out a bit, though it does seem a little hot at times.

Age certainly plays a role in this one with the oak coming in at the end - also a nice one!

87/100!

CAOL ILA 1993 53.168 'ELASTOPLAST ON A ROASTED TONGUE' - THE SCOTH MALT WHISKY SOCIETY

Like I mentioned in the previous post, I'll be reviewing quite a few Islay whiskies in this SMWS streak.
Here's another one from Islay giant - Caol Ila.



Caol Ila Distillery - May 2011 © The Malt Desk

This expression from the SMWS is the same age as one of the official releases, 18 years, but thats where the similarities stop. We're of course going single cask, cask strength and un-coloured with this one.

Pricewise the official Caol Ila 18yo 43% is around £65,5 or around 605,- Dkr in the UK compared to the SMWS bottling at 745,- Dkr in Denmark at todays exchange rate (sorry not sure how much an official CI 18 is in Denmark).

A tough pick then? not at all... I'd anytime spend just that little more to get the extra that the SMWS offers here... I mean look at the stats on this bottling:

Caol Ila 1993 53.168 (12.07.1993/xx.07.2012) 18yo, 'Elastoplast on a roasted tongue' 59,3%, refill sherry butt, 596 bottles, The Scotch Malt Whisky Society

Colour is pale straw

Nose:

Light and sweet and a bit dusty and nutty. Honey and heavy crude oil, basil and very medicinal

Taste:

Honey and mustard glace, sweet bonfire smoke, citrussy and hints of BBQ'ed sausages and a flowery note. Smoke rushes back for the finish with a nice pleasent alcohol burn, that makes it go on for a long time. Water brings out more sweetness and hints of fishing docks.

Very nice, this one!

88/100!

CAOL ILA 1990 - ARCHIVES

Following my short streak of recent Archive bottlings by the Whiskybase-team, here's a look at their recent Caol Ila which is an entirely different creature than most CI's.

Caol Ila 1990 22yo (xx.11.1990/xx.11.2012) 56,3%, ex-bourbon hogshead#13121, 130 bottles, Archives

Colour is white wine

Nose:
Fresh, coastal, salt and beaches, citrus, some faint farmyard notes, 'green' peat/fresh wood burning.

Taste:
Lovely arrival, first on citrus and gooseberries, then a wave of sweet peat and heathery notes. A very mellow Caol Ila and not at all what you'd expect from an Islay giant like Caol Ila... and certainly not one at 56,3%

Again a good pick by CJ and Menno at Whiskybase, though it's different, in form of a more laid back style of Caol Ila... Still available here

86/100!

CAOL ILA 1999 - GORDON & MACPHAIL FOR ASTA MORRIS

Elgin based bottler Gordon & MacPhail has put this one to market through small time Belgian bottler Asta Morris owned by Bert Bruyneel, who in spite of its size has bottled some impressive whiskies already, incl. some 70's official bottlings of Benriach.

This time though, lets have a go at another Caol Ila - lots of them out there, though not so many in sherry casks like this one is...

Caol Ila 1999 (17.08.1999./xx.08.2012) 50%, refill sherry hogshead#305341, 350 bottles, G&M for Asta Morris, Belgium

Colour is gold

Nose:
Slightly carbolic, vague sherry and fruit notes, subdued peat and cardboard. Getting very 'harboury' (that even a word?) with dried seaweed and tarry bulwark (Google translate - you had better got that word right!!)

Taste:
Bitter chocolate and smoke, creamy almost oily malt and a distinct fruitiness, spicy oak and hint of coffee. Gets salty and sometimes produces 'greenish' notes I think I would associate with bourbon cask matured whiskies. Finish is on peat and some (too) bitter and drying oak.

A Caol Ila in its prime age for sure, although, it looses a bit on the finish, I think...
Still good whisky, though

85/100!

SMWS - 53.72 1993

I've reviewed a few Caol Ilas here before, but this is the first one from The Scotch Malt Whisky Society, I'm reviewing here on The Malt Desk...

The SMWS recently opened a branch in Denmark, which I think all SMWS fans are very happy with. I'll be reviewing a good bunch of bottlings from the SMWS early in the new year, which I'm looking very much forward to...

I'll get right down to this 53.72... which is Distillery No. 53 (Caol Ila) and bottling No. 72

53.72 (Caol Ila) xx.08.1993/xx.10.2003 10yo 61%, 311 bottles from an ex-bourbon hoggie, The Scotch Malt Whisky Society

White wine in colour

Nose:
Sweet peat, salt, oily, ash, scorched fire logs, hints of something feinty, soap even?

Taste:
Citrus, a bit mashy, young peat, salt, toy locomotive oil, water brings out more smoke, not peat, cold meats saltiness and oak spice.

This is young raw brute Islay force - a real winter warmer for sure, but you'll have to like your Islay whisky young to appreciate this one to its fullest extend.

85/100!

2 DENMARK EXCLUSIVES FROM G&M - CAOL ILA & MACDUFF

5 wine dealerships - along with Danish G&M importer Juul's Vinhandel in Copenhagen - selected 2 casks to be bottled during a trip to Scotland in Spring this year...and they have now been bottled and has just hit the shelves of those stores.

We've got Macduff in the town of Banff on the North Sea coast. Macduff is also known as Glen Deveron and is a fairly new distillery from 1960.

Secondly, we got Islay's workhorse Caol Ila, a distillery that needs no further introduction as a few have already been reviewed on this blog.

Here's my take on the 2 of them...

Macduff 2000/2012 43% refill sherry hogshead#10052, 372 bottles, Denmark Exclusive, Gordon & MacPhail


Golden straw in colour

Nose:
Sweet malt, fruits and honey + unripe bananas, citrus and a slight earthy note.

Taste:
Mouth coating although it fades quickly. Fruits again, bitter oak, melon skin and a peppery finish


Don't really know what to think of this - is it ok? yes... and drinkable? yes, but not one for the anoraks out there...

79/100!





Caol Ila 2000/2012 43% 1st fill bourbon barrel#309604, 318 bottles, Denmark Exclusive, Gordon & MacPhail

Straw coloured

Nose:
Sweet smoke from a bonfire, salty mineral notes, overripe garden fruits, vanillas and a little candle wax, maybe? Also slight hint of soap in there...

Taste:
Light arrival on malt sweetness, which doesn't give up until the 2nd wave of brings some smoke, like burning your organic garden waste. After that fruits and a hint of veggies shows up on the finish.

This is nothing more than a decent Caol Ila. This would certainly have benefited from being bottled at 50%+ Why is it not? which is why I'm not gonna rate this more this...

81/100!

Conclusion:

I got told that these were bottled at 43% to keep the final price down upon import to Denmark.  Fine - you're free to do that... but remember you also get a whisky that turns much more bland by doing so... I also know the casks were tasted a full strength when selected and I just hope you guys don't get disappointed with this result yourself :-O

I don't really think that the casks from G&M were ever bad ones (and I've yet to try one from G&M that is!) but watering those 2 casks down to 43% has heavily subdued both nose and taste on them!

The back label states proudly states that these 2 whiskies have either been chill filtered nor caramel coloured, which is very commendable... but useless if you knock them down to 43%.

Back to the drawing board, IMO

REMEMBER:
If the whisky is good, people will buy it, unless you rely completely on whisky newbies to buy your stuff!

CAOL ILA 1982 - ARCHIVES BATCH 4

Like Bunnahabhain, Caol Ila Distillery on Islay has views to the Sound of Islay and Jura.
Unlike Bunnahabhain, the still house at Caol Ila has huge windows facing the Sound and the impressive Paps of Jura.

We've seen loads of Caol Ila's recently in the age category around 30 years - and almost all have been good - and some even better, so lets see how this one is...

This Caol Ila review also concludes the series of Archives batch#4 - I hope you've enjoyed it!

Caol Ila 1982 (2012) 30yo 51,2%, ex-bourbon hogshead#758, 207 bottles, Archives

Golden straw in colour

Nose:
Very multi-layered! In no particular order: oak, lightly scented soap, drain cleaner (yes, I know!! weird, huh?) citrus and salted almonds, tarry ropes, wet sand and toasted oak, almost no peat and an almost Bowmore-ish flowery note to it...

Taste:
Sweet boiled fruits, then spicy oak and camp fire style smoky layer fading on honey, citrus, tar and ash. Nuts and oils in here too...Then a coastal note I can only identify as being on the pier as a kid, fishing...  the long finish sends signals to me of white rum maybe?

This certainly is a great Caol Ila! One that evokes memories long forgotten...

90/100!

CAOL ILA 1980 BY BLADNOCH FORUM

After 2 unpeated Bruichladdichs - lets have another Islay born whisky - a Caol Ila...and an old one as well.

This one is a very expressive, I think, with loads of maritime notes, which is fun since it - as most Caol Ilas - probably was hauled off of Islay by tanker truck and spent its life maturing in a warehouse in the Central Belt of Scotland.

Anyway, lets get going:

Caol Ila 1980 29yo 55,3% 21.05.1980/04.06.2009, refill sherry hogshead#4940, 235 bottles by Bladnoch Forum

Nose:
Coastal, briny, fishingboat boxes, salt, oily (diesel?), some sweetness, malty - all coated in a layer of peat.

Taste:
Thick malt, coating layer of peat - more than expected from what then nose gave off. Some mint, a vegetable note - I'm thinking fresh cut bell peppers, then seaweed and hints of sweet fruits. Time and water turns it very oaky IMO bordering on oak juice so don't let this baby go swimming in more than literally, 3 drops of water.

Although this one has many things to offer, there is something I can't quite grasp in there, as if it lacks a bit of order/balance between all things, but still a decent Caol Ila. Especially considering its original price at (only) £46 !! back in 2009.

85/100!

7 WHISKIES BOTTLED BY ADELPHI - PART VI

Caol Ila 1983 28yo 54%, refill bourbon hogshead#1463, 250 bottles, Adelphi

Nose:
Gristy, coke smoke, not giving much off of its nose, this one...though lots of sweet spirit character, some grassy/hay notes maybe and some traces of yeast as well -  a fairly inactive cask this one?

Taste:
Oily, some citrus fruits and oak present, maybe the cask wasnt all that inactive after all, white pepper, peat attack in the back of the mouth, with waves of tinned fruits hitting 2-3 times before disappearing. Oak spices ends the whole barrage...

A very nicely balanced CI that gave more than the nose suggested. A nice one!

87/100!