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Caol Ila 12 Year Old

Cull Eela

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@PeatyZealotReview by @PeatyZealot

7th Mar 2013

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Caol Ila 12 Year Old
  • Nose
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  • Taste
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  • Finish
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  • Balance
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  • Overall
    89

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Distribution of ratings for this: brand user

Color: green/gold. No caramel here I guess, but seems to be chill filtered since nothing cloudy happens when I drop some water in it. Unlike the CI cask strength.

Nose: Without water a little rough, but sweet oak n smoke come through right away. With 3 drops of water comes more smoke, fresh oak and a nice soft peat, seafoam, grassy lemon and vegetables. How your clothes smell after a BBQ.

Arrival: delicate mouthfeel, coming in slowly and getting more intense with a nice burn, American oak, herbs apples and lime

Developement: It evolves some hot creamy peat, nice ash and even some smoked bacon marinated in iodine haha. Lovely dry barley is present all the way down. Oh and salty seagrass.

Finish: More ash, meaty barley, smoke and a bit creamy still, Peaty Iodine returns later and leaves its taste for quite a minutes to come.

Conclusion: Grrrreat stuff! I think this is my favorite 'entry' Islay style* whisky. I even prefer it over Ardbeg 10 because I think its a little more delicate and less screamy. It has some nice dreamy complexity and it is quite balanced in the sense that the whole nose-finish sequence is consistently good and I never get bored of it. Good in the summer and winter and the price is right!

*=(Laphroaig 10, Ardbeg 10, Bunna 12, Talisker 10, Bruichladdich An Turas Mor, )

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4 comments

@WhiskyBee
WhiskyBee commented

@PeatyZealot - Every drinker has a different nose and palate, but yours may be the first whisky review I've read with which I agree 100%, point-for-point. I've always thought Caol Ila was the perfect introduction to peated whisky. And, yup, it still tastes great after you get used to the stronger peat monsters.

Very nice review -- even if I didn't agree with it so much!

11 years ago 0

@PeatyZealot
PeatyZealot commented

Thanx! I have to be in the mood for Laphroaig or an Ardbeg, but I can drink this anytime of the day and year:) Keep an eye out for a beer I drank lately; Its called: Emelisse IRS Caol Ila Barrel Aged. Put it next to your dram and have a good one. Lovely how the malts and the smoke intertwine :)

11 years ago 0

J
Jonathan commented

This is a wonderful review. I'm a relative newbie (less than a year), but when I see terms like "liquid smoke" come up in the context of CI 12, I wonder what that person has been tasting. I'm not sure what it is about Caol Ila, but it is distinct from other Islays (and without exotic finishes). I know that that CI uses the same peated barley as Lagavulin 12 (from Port Ellen), and if I hadn't finished my bottle of CI 12 last night, I would be able to compare. In any case, "delicate" is the word that I would also have used.

I am a noobie, but one who really jumps into things/

11 years ago 0

@teebone673
teebone673 commented

Thanks for the review. I think you nailed it on the head when you said that you need to be in the mood for Laphroaig or Ardbeg, but you can drink this anytime. I couldn't agree more.

11 years ago 0