Caol Ila 9 Year (2010) Archives Butterflies from the USA

Review by: zSolaris

Distillery: Caol Ila

Bottler: Archives

Region: Islay

Age: 9 year. Distilled on June 1st, 2010. Bottled August of 2019.

Cask Type: Hosghead

ABV: 56.90% Cask Strength

Color: 0.3, Pale Gold. Natural Color and Non-Chill Filtered.

Nose: It’s quite heavy and shits deep in the glass almost. There’s a bit of light peat smoke and warm malt barley.

Palate: Hot and cries out for water at full strength water. A bit of water cools things down nicely though. It is on the simplistic side. Sugary malt, lemon, and bit of vanilla icing make up the most part. Along with it comes a strong savory, but not quite meaty, and umami note that I can’t place. It’s somewhere between tonkotsu sauce and barbecue sauce.

Finish: Medium in length. Vanilla and lemon icing. Icing sugar. Roasted barley tea.

Conclusion: I’ve been on a bit of an Islay kick lately and it felt only right that I take a stop over at Caol Ila. This one was bottled by the folks over at WhiskyBase Archives and comes across as a nice, solid young islay. The slightly sugary notes with a little bit of citrus are pleasant but the real star of the show is this savory, slightly meaty, umami note. There’s a bit of sweetness, a bit of tang, and overall quite nice. It’s a bit simplistic but still quite enjoyable.

Final Score: 78.

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.

Published by zSolaris

Unknown's avatar

Home is where the corn is! Or at least that's what I told the wife before moving her from sunny Southern California to the Midwest anyway. She doesn't share my love of scotch, the drink, but has been incredibly supportive of my little wander down the rabbit hole. We do both share a love of Scotch, our dog, though (she named him, I swear!). He's the cutie in the profile pic.

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