Caol Ila 14 YO, Cask # LD 6957

Douglas of Drumlanrig is an independent bottler. I thank @Maddie for samples from the reviewed bottle. The reviewed bottle was distilled in September 1996 and bottled in February 2011. I attended a tasting of mostly Douglas Laing products with @Maddie in, I believe, January of 2013. Of the 8 or 10 malts we tasted that night, several 25 to 35 years of age, this one was my clear favourite. I egged @Maddie on to buy a bottle. The reviewed bottle was opened on May 23, 2018 on the occasion of a visit from two of our Canadian friends, Connosr members @paddockjudge and @Nozinan. The bottle was sampled when first opened, 6 weeks later, and again today, 12 weeks later. The bottle is 80% full. Only 150 bottles were produced

Body: quite oily, in that Caol Ila way

Nose: a strong gorgeous bouquet of high-pitched nicely edged sweet peat and medium smoke immediately seduces the nose. Delicate cereal malt and light brine accompany the peat. This is one of the prettiest peated noses I have encountered. Absolutely beautiful. Water added: SRB = even further increases the sweetness, even further raises the pitch, and bundles the flavours. Score: 23/25 points, with and without water added

Taste: this is fabulously peaty with a wonderful sweet balance. The barley is lovely. The brine is delicious. This is near perfection. Water added lowers the pitch and reduces complexity. Score: 24/25 neat; 22/25 with water added

Finish: pleasantly tangy, prickly, and continuously very tongue-tingling for a very long finish, which dies on a warm peaty glow. Water added bundles the flavours into the finish and slightly reduces the tongue-tingling phenomenon. Score: 23.5/25 neat; 22.5/25 with water added

Balance: excellent balance in all phases neat; bundled flavours with lowered complexity with water added. Score: 24/25 neat; 22.5/25 with water added

Total Sequential Score: 94.5 points neat; 90 points with water added

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Strength: very potent, especially in the mouth. Score: 23.5/25 neat; 22.5/25 with water added

Quality: top-top-top....NOTCH, all elements of it. This is very bright and very "zippy". This is a rare height of quality found in this single cask. Score: 24/25 neat and with water added

Variety: when consumed neat there is plenty of variety to taste; water obscures the complexity. Score: 23/25 neat; 21.5/25 with water added

Harmony: it all works. The nose is very good; the palate is sensational. I prefer this whisky neat. Score: 23.5/25 neat; 22.5/25 with water added

Total Non-Sequential Score: 94 points neat; 90.5 points with water added

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Comment: when we opened this bottle in May 2018 I was eagerly hoping that it would please me and the others gathered as much as it had pleased me when I had first tasted it 5 1/2 years previously. It did. The fact that this cask produced only 150 bottles means that neither I nor nearly all of those reading this review will get to purchase a bottle from this particular release. The principal value of a review of a probably unavailable whisky is to remind the reader that there is a great huge world of whiskies available from independent bottlers, some of them undiscovered gems, available for you to try out for yourself!

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