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Caol Ila 12 Year Old

oily and pleasant

0 987

mReview by @maltmate302

2nd Feb 2015

0

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
    87

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Distribution of ratings for this: brand user

The whisky I'm reviewing is from a 20cl bottle recently bought. If I could sum up this up in one word that word would be oily.I've never really understood the concept of an oily mouth feel but after drinking this now I do. On the nose I first got a sort of briney peatiness swiftly followed by toffee,caramel and a slight herbal note. On the palate I got a sweet, creamy,briney peaty taste infused with lemon curd (a british preserve),lemon peel and sherbet lemons(candy) all wrapped up in a good olive oil. Very pleasant if a bit one dimensional. The finish is very long indeed. Quite gentle peat with white pepper with coastal notes still lingering. This is not a peat monster like Laphroaig 10 ,the praying levels are more muted,like a Talisker. It is nevertheless mostly enjoyable if not overly complex. It would be an excellent introduction to Islay malt whiskies.

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9 comments

@Nozinan
Nozinan commented

I find this to be a very enjoyable whisky, one of the few bottled at 43% that I would drink over a diet soda (unless I was just thirsty, then I'd have the soda).

But if you want this amped up a notch, see if you can get your hands on a bottle of the natural cask strength release (the one bottled at 58%, I believe). In my opinion this is an explosion of flavour in a dram.

9 years ago 0

@Pierre_W
Pierre_W commented

Totally agree with the comment of @Nozinan. The cask strength bottling offers way more depth and flavour variation. Sadly unavailable at the moment (at least so in Switzerland).

9 years ago 0

@Victor
Victor commented

@Nozinan, good quote! "...one of the few bottled at 43% that I would drink over a diet soda....". Bravo! I wish I had come up with that one myself.

9 years ago 0

maltmate302 commented

Excellent quote Nozinan .The cask strength does sound a lot more inviting than the 43%. I was just doing a simple little review of a simple, albeit enjoyable, little whisky.I apologize for the errors,I meant peating not praying and most instead of mostly. Sorry about that!

9 years ago 0

broadwayblue commented

Nobody should be drinking diet soda...that stuff will kill you. lol

9 years ago 0

@Ol_Jas
Ol_Jas commented

I've some Laphroaigs with peat that approaches the "praying level"!

Indie Caol Ilas at cask strength are usually pretty easy to find too, assuming you have access to a store that carries any indies to begin with. For me in the US, at least, this is a more readily available way of getting cask strength Caol Ila than looking for the OB.

9 years ago 0

@tjb
tjb commented

A really nice review that is on point. As mentioned above...try the cask strength.

9 years ago 0

broadwayblue commented

I've got a G&M cask strength bottling of Caol Ila that's terrific.

9 years ago 0

maltmate302 commented

I know OIJas praying levels indeed!It was a predictive text and clumsy finger combo that embarrassed me. It wouldn't be a post without a screwup.I've just opened a bottle of Maker's Mark to console myself and suddenly things don't seem so bad.

9 years ago 0