Review by: ZoidbergOnTheRocks

I can haz moar Caol Ilas?

I can, and I will. Two more single cask IB’s, this time from James Eadie and Gordon & MacPhail.

Tasted on 4/15/2021, neat in a Glencairn, then with a bit of water.

Stock image taken from Whiskybase, retrieved 2020/04/14.

---

Caol Ila 11 Year (2008) James Eadie

Distillery: Caol Ila

Bottler: James Eadie (JE)

Region: Scotland, Islay

ABV: 54.1%, cask strength

Age: 11 years old. Distilled on 11/23/2008. Bottled in 2020.

Cask type: 1st Fill Amontillado Sherry Cask Finish

Natural color. Non-chill-filtered. One of 325 bottles, from a single cask #356845.

---

Nose: seawater, seaweed. Warm sand and drying rocks on the beach. Gentle peat and wood smoke. Iodine. Almonds. Ginger. Grapefruit. Mint. Eucalyptus. A bit of rubber. Some fresh bread. With Water: some raisin comes out. More smoke. More fruit. More rubber and even tar.

Taste: seawater. Big peat smoke. Ashy. Oily mouthfeel. Tart grapefruit. Marzipan. A bit hot. Mild ginger spice. With Water: much more fruit; lemon, peaches with the grapefruit now. Sweeter. Excellent mouthfeel. Some rubber.

Finish: big peat smoke and seawater. Ashy. Quite medicinal, too, with iodine, eucalyptus, camphor. Bright grapefruit and citrus. Warm gingery heat. Some nice hints of black rubber. With Water: More fruit for sure. Very maritime and salty. Long.

---

Summary: A touch of water and this is excellent. Great balance, reasonable complexity, and very maritime. The sherry finish starts to come through with water, too. The fruit is a bit tart, and it’s bigger on maritime notes than the peat and smoke you’d expect. The finish is excellent: long on salty seawater, smoke, citrus, with medicinal and a black rubber along too. No off-notes at all. Very nice.

Would I buy a bottle? yep.

Final Score: 87.

---

Caol Ila 9 Year (2004) Gordon & MacPhail

G&M bottled a bunch of these young Caol Ila single casks over the years and it can be hard to find info on some of them, including this one. They’re not all in WhiskyBase. I think I’ve got the right info here, but can’t be 100% sure.

Distillery: Caol Ila

Bottler: Gordon & MacPhail (GM)

Region: Scotland, Islay

ABV: 58.5%, cask strength

Age: 9 years old. Distilled in 2004. Bottled in 08/2014.

Cask type: Refill Sherry Hogshead

Natural color. Non-chill-filtered. From a single cask.

---

Nose: ashy wood smoke. Earthy peat. Lemon and grapefruit. Seawater. Warm sand. Iodine and camphor. Mild white pepper and oaky spice. A touch of cardboard now and then. With Water: the fruit is sweeter, the cardboard is gone, and it’s a bit more medicinal now.

Taste: wood smoke. Rich peat. Grapefruit. A bit dry. Quite mineral, like sucking on a stone. Medicinal w/ iodine, camphor. Mild spice builds to black pepper. Oily. Rather hot. With Water: sweeter fruit w/ some lemon, even orange.

Finish: ashy wood smoke. Grapefruit. Seawater and warm sand. Iodine and camphor. Mild white pepper. Medium length. With Water: sweeter grapefruit. Bigger smoke, and the smoke and maritime notes linger longer.

---

Summary: a little bit of water opens this one up and brings better balance and more fruit, and it just feels bigger all around. A classic hit of Islay with a good integration of smokey peat, maritime, and medicinal notes. Not too complex, but delicious. Some nice minerality throughout, too. The finish is excellent and gets longer with water.

Would I buy a bottle? yes.

Final Score: 87.

---

Comparison

Order: 11yr JE > 9yr G&M

These are both great examples of what really good, young IB Caol Ila can be. There are some treasures out there, usually pretty inexpensive, and if you don’t get hung up on a name or age then you’re in for a treat. It’s amazing to think that Caol Ila is the biggest producer on the island, most of it blending fodder for Diageo, and yet it’s easy to find an IB Caol Ila that’s excellent, and it’s surprising given how mediocre their core OB expressions are.

For ordering them, I’ll take the better complexity in the 11yr James Eadie over the bottling form G&M this time.

---

Scoring Legend:

• 95-100: As good as it gets. Jaw-dropping, eye-widening, unforgettable whisky.
• 90-94: Sublime, a personal favorite in its category.
• 85-89: Excellent, a standout dram.
• 80-84: Quite good. Quality stuff.
• 75-79: Decent whisky worth tasting.
• 70-74: Meh. It’s definitely drinkable, but it can do better.
• 60-69: Not so good. I might not turn down a glass if I needed a drink.
• 50-59: Save it for mixing.
• 0-49: Blech.