Review by: zSolaris

Distillery: Caol Ila.

Bottler: Douglas Laing.

Region: Islay.

Age: 30 Year. Distilled in March of 1991 and bottled in September of 2021.

ABV: 52.2%.

Cask Number: DL15384.

Color: 0.4, Jounquil / Ripe Corn. Natural Color and Non Chill Filtered.

This dram is the eighth of 2022’s Christmas Countdown! Whiskies from previous years can be found here.

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Nose: It smells a lot like a nice gin with tons of aromatic notes. Juniper berries, rosemary, pine, and coriander are what come to mind.

Palate: The gin-esque nose carries on to the palate with loads of aromatics. Juniper berries, rosemary, pine, and coriander from the nose comes through again. There are bright and fruity berry notes joining the more aromatic ones. A rainbow peppercorn note comes out in the back as well.

Finish: Medium in length. More of those same gin and aromatic notes show up before gradually easing into smoke.

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Conclusion: A few weeks ago, /u/KissMeElon hosted an “old Islay tasting”. This Caol Ila is what we had between us to round out representation of Islay’s distilleries. I’ve not had any old Caol Ila but I would have never expected to have gotten something that smelled and tasted so much like a nice gin. There’s a ton of aromatic notes floating around here that I really enjoy, particularly the juniper berry notes. Not bad though certainly unexpected!

Final Score: 82.

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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.