Review by: Whiskery Turnip
Every year SMWS releases a number of whiskies in May celebrating the different regions of Scotland; it is their entry into the Festival season that sweeps from Islay across Speyside and beyond. Our local whisky group hosts a tasting most years with the SMWS Festival bottles so that everyone can give them a taste and give their thoughts— possibly expressing regret that they did not buy the bottle before it sold out since we typically do the tasting about a month after the bottles debut. For 2023 SMWS released a mix of single casks and small batches, or rare releases as they were called this year, for various distilleries. We focused the tasting primarily on the single casks with a handful of the more intriguing or unusual, small batches included.
This Caol Ila was one of the single cask festival releases poured at the event. This was the only festival bottle that I purchased this year and, spoiler alert, I was pretty pleased with what I found. I was intrigued by the fact that the siblings of this single cask were vatted together; I thought surely there must have been a reason it was bottle by itself?
Distillery: Caol Ila.
Bottler: SMWS.
Region: Scotland/Islay Single Malt.
ABV: 57.6%. Cask strength.
Age: 14 years. Distilled on 27 May 2008.
Cask type: Bourbon Hogshead (11Y), First Fill American Oak PX Hogshead.
Nose: Tar, brown sugar, spiral ham, mellow maritime brine, slightly acrid with coal soot, hints of sarsaparilla and cherry.
Palate: Medium-bodied, industrial with coal soot, tar, and subtle iron; burnt nori with hints of earthy mushroom, meaty, caramelized unagi on a charcoal grill; hints of lemon, pine, and medicinal herbs or antiseptic cleaning agents.
Finish: Medium to long with ash, lemon, and salt.
Mental Image: Barbecue Competition Outtakes
Conclusion: Dirty but sweet, this Caol Ila had everyone debating which barbecue sauce it most resembled— was this the McRib in whisky form? Meaty, maritime, and loaded with sweet caramelized sugars and fats, I thought this was an excellent variation on the typical Caol Ila profile. The notes you would expect from Islay’s biggest distillery were all there to one degree or another: ocean, brine, citrus, and medicinal herbs. The cask added additional layers and elevated some of the meaty and sooty elements of the malt. The flavors did trip over themselves a little bit on the palate as they battled for supremacy. I suspect that, of all the bottles we tried, this one is most likely to slowly evolve and change as some of the more aggressive elements mellow out over time. Indeed, just a few weeks after the tasting, I had a chance to revisit the bottle, and it was already much jammier and less acrid, though it had also lost a little of the lovely meatiness.
Final Score: 84.
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.
Malt Runners 