The Malt Nuts love Caol Ila. When it comes to peated whisky, Caol Ila is our chosen mascot. Un-peated it’s Clynelish, and there’s a certain harmony in that pairing. They go together quite well, sitting like two sides to the same coin. Though on this night there was no Clynelish to be found, just 90’s Caol Ila.
Over the years we’ve done a lot of Caol Ila tasting with various themes, but this is the first one where we wanted to stick specifically to a certain decade and explore what was being distilled during this time frame. Which is an interesting way to approach a distillery. A nice snapshot of a certain point in time.
For this evening the rounds ended up being split like this.
- Round 1: Cut Caol Ila
- Round 2: Cask Strength Caol Ila
Yup, just two rounds for this one. To be honest, a tasting like this is a bit hard to put on. A) It’s not cheap and B) It’s not easy to find a whole lot from the 90s still on the shelves. And those wonderfully “winning” tariffs make the first reason even more burdensome.
Round 1: Cut Caol Ila
1A: Connoisseurs Choice Caol Ila 12 years (99-12): 46% – “Oak Cask”
- Nose: Smoke, citrus, orchard fruit, minerally and spirity.
- Palate: Smoke, citrus, orchard fruit and minerally spirity sweetness with a bit of herbalness.
- Finish: Long -> Smoke, orchard fruit and minerality.
- Overall: (3/5) Light and soft with a strong mineral note and light spirity note. There is a light floral bit that reminds me of the X-mas potpourri my mom used around the house when I was a kid.
1B: Hart Brother’s Caol Ila 10 years (96-06): 46%
- Nose: Spirity, orchard fruit, clay, oil, malt and smoked nuts.
- Palate: Spirit, orchard fruit, spice, clay, malt, smoke and herbal.
- Finish: Long -> Smoke, orchard fruit and clay.
- Overall: (1.5/5) Wow this is spirity. It’s rather raw and comes across like it’s 3 years if a day. It’s not pleasant.
1C: Provenance Caol Ila 14 years (90-04): 46% – Two Cask Blend
- Nose: Chalk, orchard fruit, smoke, minerality, malt and Smarties.
- Palate: Cocoa, chalk, orchard fruit, smoke, minerality and Smarties.
- Finish: Long -> Toffee, chalk and minerality touch smoky.
- Overall: (3.5/5) Water brings in a touch of fruit and creaminess to the whisky which makes it sing.
1D: Signatory Caol Ila 19 years (95-14): 46% – Hogshead
- Nose: Minerally, dusty, butterscotch, jalapeño, smoke and some Twizzlers and caramel.
- Palate: Chalk, smoke, mineral, herbal, jalapeño, spirity and stale candy.
- Finish: Long -> Jalapeño, Chalk, mineral, herbal, spirity.
- Overall: (3.5/5) Dusty buttery nacho cheese… yes you read that right. As it opens it gets a note of nacho cheese with the Jalapeno making it unmistakable. This is not a bad thing, that jalapeno flavor and spice works incredibly well in here.
1E: Chieftain’s Caol Ila 17 years (90-07): 43% – “Oak Casks”
- Nose: Minerally! Smoke, Fruit, plastic, char and more plastic.
- Palate: Watery fruit, OBE, plastic, stale honey, smoke and herbal.
- Finish: Long -> Honied fruit and smoke.
- Overall: (2.5/5) The plastic notes grow as it opens and soon it’s so widely spread out it kinda kills the pleasantness it started with.
Round 2: Cask Strength Caol Ila
2A: Sovereign Caol Ila 15 years (96-12): 56.5% – “Oak Cask”
- Nose: Smoke, minerality, apple, smoke and a touch of leather.
- Palate: Chalk, minerality, smoke, apple, leather and honey.
- Finish: Long -> Smoke and malty sweetness.
- Overall: (3/5) Nice, but not amazing.
2B: Silver Seal Caol Ila 10 years (96-06): 57.3% – “Oak Casks”
- Nose: Funk (b.o.), spice, smoke, apples, pears, minerality and stale nuts.
- Palate: Funk (b.o.), spice, smoke, apples, pears, minerality and stale nuts.
- Finish: Long -> FUNK and smoke.
- Overall: (1.5/5) This is close to the worst Caol Ila I’ve ever had. It’s like Caol Ila by way of the lowlands. Blegh.
2C: Boutique-y Whisky Caol Ila 25 years (Islay #2): 48.7%
- Nose: Caramel wafer cookies, orchard fruit, smoke, baking spice, wet earth and roasted nuts.
- Palate: Caramel apples, smoke, baking spices, roasted nuts and sugar cookies.
- Finish: Long ->Sweet and buttery and fruity with a bit of smoke.
- Overall: (4.5/5) This thing is magical. It’s like fall in a glass, it’s amazing.
2D: Murray McDavid Caol Ila 17 years (90-08): 53.9% – ex-Bourbon & ex-Chateau Haut Brion
- Nose: Malty sweetness, cocoa, char, nuts, smoke, orchard fruit, honey and spice.
- Palate: Malty sweetness, cocoa, char, nuts, smoke, orchard fruit, honey and spice.
- Finish: Long -> Smoke and malty sweetness.
- Overall: (4/5) As it opens it gets a tad earthy but retains that amazing complex sweetness layered with smoke. Very nice.
I reviewed that Boutique-y Islay #2 not too long ago and in that review I mentioned how some folks said it was Ardbeg and some said it was Caol Ila. After discussing our own thoughts and opinions on it, head malt Barry and I decided it would be good to throw it in the mix and see what folks thought.
Would it stick out like a sore thumb and have everyone wondering what it was? Or, would it fit right in with other 90’s Caol Ila? Turns out it was the latter. No one mentioned anything about it tasting odd or unlike the others and when it was revealed I had it marked as my favorite of the night and thought it was the richest representation of anything tasted that evening.
So take that for what it’s worth. If it is an Ardbeg then it’s the most Caol Ila-like Ardbeg you’ll find on the market. That or it’s a Caol Ila that fits right in rather well with other Caol Ila distilled in the 90s. Take your pick.
Cheers!
