Review by: The Muskox

This is the final dram from that Murray McDavid/XOP tasting I did a few weeks ago. Between that tasting and my recent trips to the pub, it’s been quite the month of vintage whiskies. I’ve had Caol Ila this old before, but this one appears to be much more sherry cask influenced than what I’ve tried previously.

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Distillery: Caol Ila.

Bottler: Douglas Laing.

Region: Islay.

ABV: 48.4%. Cask strength.

Age: 30 years. Distilled in January 1991. Bottled in September 2021.

Cask type: Cask #DL15245, a second-fill sherry hogshead.

Price: N/A, sample.

Color: Natural Color. Non-chill-filtered.

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Nose: Sweet and savoury. Maple-glazed ham, bacon, and barbeque sauce, with sweeter notes of malt, maple syrup, brown sugar, and milk chocolate. Roast squash with dried rosemary, just like I ate for dinner the other night. Juicy fruit – maraschinos, red apple, orange, some pineapple, strawberry sauce, and cantaloupe. Hints of toasted sesame oil, lapsang souchong, tar, and cedar. Slightly nutty, like toasted rice.

Palate: Medium texture. Arrives with savoury and spicy peat smoke: all-dressed chips (there’s a Canadianism for you), salty smoke, cool earth, dead leaves, and a hint of bitter iodine. cherries. Soft sweet fruit and herbal-floral in the middle soft herbal: lots of lavender and rosemary, some papaya, charred pears, flowers, lemongrass, floral teas and salted butter.

Finish: Medium-length. Strong overbrewed tea and dead leaves. Salt and lots of black pepper. Cooked stonefruit. Nori, soy sauce, sushi rice even! Rosemary and lavender again.

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Possible SMWS bottling name: “Underground sauna luau”

Conclusion: Tasty stuff! There’s such an intense syrupy-savoury richness that I’d normally associate with a younger peated/sherried whisky, and I very nearly convinced myself that this was a Bowmore with all those floral notes. There are some great earthy notes in there too, that roast squash is almost uncanny. It’s quite different from the more refill-cask old Caol Ilas I’ve had before. I think I still prefer that subtler style, but this was great in its own way.

Final Score: 88.

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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.