We had meticulously set out to try and see if G&M, who bottles a ton of Caol Ila, had a “house style” they worked towards/looked for when releasing their Caol Ilas. As a group we’ve drank more Caol Ila than probably most people and we’ve come to know and love the G&M releases. Not only was this a pet-project of head Malt Nut Barry, but a pondering by the group at large. There was a lot of anticipation here. But the infected caps struck again.
Like with the wine-finished Bunnahabhain, the caps used on the Caol Ila tasting were tainted and so the dominating note picked up was of sweet-and-floral-patchouli-soap… which sucked. I’m sure you can imagine the feeling on the Zoom, but I broke down both the Bunnahabhain and Caol Ila tastings in a 48 hour period and there was no way to know till it was far too late.
However, it being a pet project of Barry and the group ended up being a blessing. With the leftovers from the bottles Barry had, and a couple of my close friends who contributed, we were able to recreate most of the tasting into minuscule samples. I’m talking <1/4 oz, to try and get some better notes than “soap” down on the page.
And speaking of soap, I was able to get enough sips to record not-soap notes for 9 of the whiskies. Though even with the be-soaped whiskies I did my best to taste and sniff around the soap and see what else I could get and those are the notes listed for those, though no scores. And with that background knowledge in place here’s how our hopeful rounds of Caol Ila broke down.
- Round 1: ex-Bourbon G&M Caol Ila Aged 7-11 Years
- Round 2: ex-Bourbon G&M Caol Ila Aged 11-16 Years
- Round 3: ex-Sherry G&M Caol Ila Aged 8-14 Years
With the mission in hand, to see if there is G&M ‘house style” of Caol Ila, here we go.
Round 1: ex-Bourbon G&M Caol Ila Aged 7-11 Years
1A: Gordon & Macphail Caol Ila 7 years (06-13): 57.4% – 1st Fill ex-Bourbon
- Nose: Crisp apples, honey, smoke, char and malt.
- Palate: Honey, vanilla taffy, malt, dried orchard fruits and smoke.
- Finish: Long -> Smoke, caramel, dried fruit and lemon peel.
- Overall: (3/5) Not super complex, but quite nice. Definitely wouldn’t kick it out of bed.
1B: Gordon & Macphail Caol Ila 9 years (08-17): 58.1% – Reill ex-Bourbon
- Nose: Caramel, malt, vanilla, orchard fruit, smoke, minerality and salted butter.
- Palate: Smoke, vanilla cupcakes, candied lemon, malt, toffee and biscuits.
- Finish: Long -> Smoke, vanilla cupcakes, candied lemon.
- Overall: (3/5) Sweeter than 1A, but that candied lemon note is so distinct and delicious.
1C: Gordon & Macphail Caol Ila 9 years (04-14): 59% – 1st Fill ex-Bourbon
- Nose: Fruit, spice, smoke, wood, toffee, malt, lemon and biscuits with salted butter.
- Palate: Vanilla, pine, smoke, lemon-flavored water, malt and vanilla taffy.
- Finish: Long -> Vanilla, smoke, lemon water.
- Overall: (2.5/5) The texture on this one is extremely thick and oily, it’s awesome in that respect, but oddly light in the complexity department and a touch metallic.
1D: Gordon & Macphail Caol Ila 10 years (03-13): 59.2% – Refill American Hogsheads
- Nose: Buttercream frosting, malt, green bananas, old vanilla beans and smoke.
- Palate: Buttercream frosting, malt, green bananas, nougat and smoke.
- Finish: Long -> Fruit, buttercream, smoke, minerality.
- Overall: (3/5) Wow, that buttercream note is so strong and heavy… yet it’s not distracting. It’s actually nice.
1E: Cadenhead’s Caol Ila 10 years: 58.8% – ex-Bourbon
- Nose: Cinnamon pastries, minerally clay, vanilla, wood, smoke, lemon and fruit.
- Palate: Minerality, herbal, vanilla taffy, lemon peel, minerality and smoke.
- Finish: Long -> Lemon water, metallic/minerally notes and smoke.
- Overall: (3/5) Interesting minerality showing throughout that suggests a worn cask since that’s typically a spirity note, but its still very nice. I’d drink this any night.
1F: Gordon & Macphail Caol Ila 11 years (05-16): 54.1% – 1st Fill ex-Bourbon
- Nose: Banana taffy, smoked meat, minerality and a touch solvent.
- Palate: Banana taffy, minerality and sweet smoke.
- Finish: Long -> Smoke and banana taffy.
- Overall: (2/5) Kind of… blah.
Round 2: ex-Bourbon G&M Caol Ila Aged 11-16 Years
2A: Gordon & Macphail Caol Ila 11 years (00-12): 59.3% – 1st Fill ex-Bourbon
- Nose: Honey, fish oil, charred malt, smoke, toffee, orchard fruit.
- Palate: Malt, minerality, lemon cake, orchard fruit, smoke, touch metallic.
- Finish: Long -> Lemon cake, smoke, touch metallic.
- Overall: (3/5) Enticing, I’d like more of it. Not because I’m in love with it, but because it feels like it has more to offer and explore.
2B: Cadenhead’s Caol Ila 14 years: 54.4% – ex-Bourbon
- Nose: Smoke.
- Palate: Smoke
- Finish: Smoke and sweet-and-floral-patchouli-soap
- Overall: (N/A) Another that got obliterated.
2C: Gordon & Macphail Caol Ila 14 years (03-18): 56% – 1st Fill ex-Bourbon
- Nose: Fruity candy, malt, honey, vanilla taffy and smoke.
- Palate: Fruity gummies and smoke.
- Finish: Smoke and sweet-and-floral-patchouli-soap
- Overall: (N/A) I’m digging the fruity gummy candy note poking its head out. It’s nice.
2D: Gordon & Macphail Caol Ila 16 years (02-19): 54.9% – 1st Fill ex-Bourbon
- Nose: Toffee, fruit, nuts, smoke, spice and honey candy.
- Palate: Smoke, caramel and fruit.
- Finish: Smoke and sweet-and-floral-patchouli-soap
- Overall: (N/A) What’s getting through is super nice and I wish I had an untainted dram of this, it seems awesome.
Round 3: ex-Sherry G&M Caol Ila Aged 8-14 Years
3A: Gordon & Macphail Caol Ila 12 years (01-14): 59.6% – Refill Sherry Butt
- Nose: Fruity candy, malt, Honey Nut Cheerios, angel food cake, smoke and nuts.
- Palate: Fruit, malt, vanilla frosting, cocoa and smoke.
- Finish: Smoke and sweet-and-floral-patchouli-soap
- Overall: (N/A) A lovely depth of fruit pushing through.
3B: Gordon & Macphail Caol Ila 12 years (01-13): 59.8% – Refill Sherry Butt
- Nose: Cocoa, vanilla, graham, smoke, fruit and dried spice.
- Palate: S’mores, malt, spice, char.
- Finish: Smoke and sweet-and-floral-patchouli-soap
- Overall: (N/A) Like a liquid S’mores by the beach, this is super intriguing.
3C: Single Cask Nation Caol Ila 8 years (11-19): 61.4% – Refill Oloroso Sherry Butt
- Nose: Smoke, decadent fruit tart, lemon wedges, vanilla taffy, oatcakes, freeze-dried strawberries.
- Palate: Strawberry frosting, lemon zest, minerality, oatcakes, vanilla taffy, malt and a breadiness.
- Finish: Long -> Strawberry frosting, oatcakes and bread.
- Overall: (3.5/5) Sweet and smoky in a way that creates something uniquely delicious – it’s the perfect sweet n’ smoky dessert whisky.
3D: Gordon & Macphail Caol Ila 14 years (05-19): 55.6% – Refill Sherry Hogshead
- Nose: Buttercream, grilled fruit, char, smoke, malt, green papaya, and pine.
- Palate: Buttercream, grilled fruit, toffee, smoke, malt, green papaya, and chestnuts.
- Finish: Long -> Grilled fruit, smoke and chestnuts.
- Overall: (3.5/5) The chestnut note is delightful and this is my favorite of the ones I was able to re-try.
First, massive thanks to Barry and Co. for helping to get a couple small sips of bottle remainders to get these notes. And second, to answer the question about the house style… kind of.
Across most of the whiskies I found a lemon note which is slightly different from the profile I get in OBs like the Caol Ila 12 where I don’t get a ton of citrus. That said, I don’t think the G&M Caol Ila profiles is ostensively different from any other Indie bottling of Caol Ila we’ve experienced before. And, like I said at the beginning, the Malt Nuts, have tasted a LOT of Caol Ila.
- Malt Nuts: Port Ellen vs old Caol Ila Tasting
- Malt Nuts: 90’s Caol Ila Tasting
- Malt Nuts: Teenage Caol Ila Tasting
- Malt Nuts: Caol Ila 8 Years and Under
- Is Young Caol Ila Any Good? The Malt Nuts Taste 11 To Find Out
- The Malt Nuts take on UIWs (Unidentified Islay Whiskies)
- Malt Nuts: Undisclosed Islay Part 2
Till next time, cheers!
