| Details | It’s a classic whisky from Caol Ila, producer of many of my very favourite modern Islay whiskies. It sits on the dividing line between the two styles I find from the distillery – young and feisty, and mature and mellow – with the sea spray and some of the peatiness of a younger dram allied with the softened smoke, depth of flavour and fruit of an older whisky. It’s a vatting of a few casks, with an outturn of 2000 bottles, and is bottled at full batch strength of 53.2% |
|
VOL |
70cl |
|
ABV |
53.2% |
| Tasting Notes |
Nose: Smouldering green leaves and a side of smoke lead – mint and tarragon with a touch of maple-cured bacon. Sweet pastry pokes through the smoke, followed by apple and pear pies, roasted pineapple, singed oranges, chocolate lime sweets and a handful of wine gums. Tarry ropes and briny hints hide at the back. Palate: Coal dust and peat fires jump out of the glass, diving into sharp apple, more chocolate limes and liquorice. Meaty notes sit in the middle – sweet bacon and burnt edges. Green leaves, soft spice and the wine gums from the nose slowly develop, with the spice building alongside the fruit. There’s a burst of crashing-wave ozone and iodine and then a descent into tar and chocolate. Finish: Green and briny at first with building cocoa, lime and sharp apple. Oatcakes and rye crackers build alongside anise and mint imperials. |
