Caol Ila 11 (2005) Gordon & MacPhail

Review by: Raygun

Photo courtesy of buckydean from Reddit

Another of Diageo’s workhorses, Caol Ila is the largest distillery on Islay. Perhaps because of that, it doesn’t seem to inspire the kind of passion that some of the others do: I don’t think I know anyone who picks Caol Ila as their favorite Islay distillery. Reviewed from a sample. Rested about 15 minutes.

Distillery: Caol Ila     

Bottler: Gordon & MacPhail    

Region/style: Islay single malt Scotch

ABV: 54.1%. Cask strength.   

Age: 11 years. Distilled on February 21, 2005 and bottled on October 27, 2016. 

Cask type: Bourbon cask of unstated capacity, but first fill   

Color: 0.9 amontillado. Natural color and non-chill-filtered.

Nose: That’s nice. Smoky and lemony, with some of the minerality I often find in Caol Ila. Some grilled fish. Clean and well defined.                 

Palate: Smoked and salted caramel, charred lemon, and charcoal-grilled fish. I can almost imagine the crispy skin. Aspects of white wine, but deeply smoky. Like a Riesling I’d say. Vanilla wafers. To be honest, I was expecting a pretty ordinary Caol Ila, but this is a step up. Really captures a beachside grill.    

Finish: More lemon, grapefruit, and some white pepper. White wine crispness along with grilled seafood. A little spicier than the palate but otherwise similar. Nice mix of sweet and salty/smoky. Beach sand pops up.   

Conclusion: A very enjoyable young Caol Ila. I’m probably in a small minority in preferring the occasional unpeated Caol Ila to the regular peated releases most of the time. This shows that similar malty and biscuity character, with the addition of the smoke and grilled fish flavors the peat brings. It’s a nice combination.

Score: 82

Scoring Legend:

  • 95-100: As good as it gets. Jaw-dropping, eye-widening, unforgettable whisky. (Convalmore 36)
  • 90-94: Sublime, a personal favorite in its category. (Bruichladdich Black Art 4.1)
  • 85-89: Excellent, a standout dram. (Ledaig 13 Amontillado)
  • 80-84: Quite good. Quality stuff. (Tomatin 18)
  • 75-79: Decent whisky worth tasting. (Glen Scotia 15)
  • 70-74: Meh. It’s definitely drinkable, but it can do better. (Aultmore 12)
  • 60-69: Not so good. I might not turn down a glass if I needed a drink. (Glenmorangie 10)
  • 50-59: Save it for mixing. (Old Pulteney 12)
  • 0-49: Blech. (Muirhead’s Silver Seal 16)

Published by Raygun

Unknown's avatar

I drank Scotch occasionally (mostly at family gatherings) for years, but started getting more interested after an introduction and tasting from a Scottish acquaintance. That led to buying my first bottle (Highland Park 12). Now 600+ spirits later, Scotch is still my first love, but I drink other whisky and dabble in brandy as well.

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