Caol ila Cask Strength

This tasting note is far overdue, I admit. I tried it in February while on ski holiday in Austria (be sure to check out the little video on YouTube). It is one of my favourite official bottlings, as you will soon find out. It was bottled at natural cask strength, implying also no colouring and no chill filtration.

The nose is grand, vibrant and very expressive. All elements of the sea are there. Salt, smoked herring, creosote with loads of smoke, balanced thanks to a dollop of honey and lime zest. Diluted it becomes more accessible and offers breakfast cereals and butter.

Kaboom! It explodes in your mouth! Makes me all warm inside. The maritime elements of the nose return. Oysters. Brine. Some vanilla, lime zeste again, hints of burnt rubber (the good kind). Can take quite a bit of water. Becomes less intense, admittedly, but does not lose a lot of flavour. It offers even more. A swimmer.

The finish is very long on peat. Fades ever so gently.

This is a bodybuilder of a whisky. Not for the faint hearted. Caol Ila remains at the top of my list of favourite Islay drams.

The Caol Ila distillery is located on Islay, near Port Askaig, overlooking the strait between Islay and Jura, and was founded in 1846. Its name derives from the Gaelic for 'Sound of Islay'. The distillery belongs to Diageo, and in addition to being sold as a single malt is used heavily in blends such as Johnnie Walker and Black Bottle.

The nose is fresh and briny. Peat smoke mingles with delightful citrus notes, and there are hints of grass and apples. A delightfully fresh nose to begin with.

The palate almost overwhelms you! It is full-bodied, oily and mighty, very peppery and dominated by salty brine and peat smoke. Wow! Then there are subtle notes of lemon and vanilla.

The finish is of medium length and warming, full of brine and ashes. Some smoked ham notes also appear.

This is my favourite everyday Islay whisky! You could say that this is young, wild and hot! It is perfect for the hip flask on long walks during wintry afternoons and will forever be part of my whisky cabinet.

This review is from my2nd sample of a 20cl bottle. I have sampled this in a Glencairn without water. The colour is pale straw and oily.

Nose peat, smoke, green apple peel and a twist of lemon grass.

On the palate it delivers a real spicy, smokey punch. Dry crisp green fruit and salted caramel.

The finish is long, smokey, spicy, peat, fruity, smoke again leaving tongue tingling spice.

It delivers.

I am sampling a very small portion of this whisky, after having shared a tipple with a friend of mine the other day. I quite enjoyed my first sip, but I had already enjoyed a couple Compass Box expressions, so I didn't feel it fair to review it under those circumstances. However, here I am, after a long day, finally sitting down to enjoy a dram!

This is a very light colored whisky, bottled at 61.6% ABV.

Nose: Quite a bit of smoke up front. Some sea air comes in behind the smoke, and there are some tangy (unripe) grapes mixed in. A little seaweed in the back.

Palate: Wow! A smoke and tangy grape explosion in the mouth! VERY hot! My mouth is really heating up holding in this whisky. It really is very good, with a fantastic mouth feel. To be real clear, unless you are a whisky fanatic, I would steer WELL clear of this one.

Finish: More smoke on the finish. Which, frankly is a bit shorter than I would have expected. With such intensity on the palate, I am surprised at how tame the finish is.

I don't think this is the most balanced whisky I've ever tasted. It is incredibly hot in the mouth, and there is a ton of smoke in there. But the other flavors just get lost in that smoke cloud.

All in all, this is a great whisky. There are a few drawbacks, like the very short finish. But overall, I really like this one. Very unusual, with the intense smoke and tangy character. I would definitely look for a bottle of this whisky.

Today I finished my working day sipping a glass of Caol Ila 12 yo kindly offered by my professor, so I remembered I still had a sample of their Natural Cask Strength edition and decided to give it a try, just to see how they compare. Here's my review!

Color and body: very light color, fino sherry according to the Connossr bar. I'm swirling the dram into the glass and watching at its long and thin legs.

Nose: sweet, with light but detectable alcohol, strong and aromatic peat. It also shows faint lemony notes. Mouthwatering!

Palate: very pungent and massive attack, it warms and coats your mouth. This start is followed by a pleasant sweetness, while some citrusy notes hit the sides of your tongue and, on breathing out, I can also feel a kind of nuttiness that I really like. And of course, peat and smoke at their best! It's a deeper, heartier version of the CI 12 (it should be younger though), but due to the high ABV the flavours are tightly intermingled, you need time to discern between them. But I can assure, it's well spent time! Adding water brings out more sweetness but curiously the alcohol attack becomes almost sharper, while the flavours are a bit flattened. I prefer it neat.

Finish: as always with this cask strength Islay malts, the finish stays with you forever, with peat and sweet warm notes and just a hint of liquorice. Satisfying!

Overall: this is a wonderful, quite complex whisky in spite of its age! If you like Islay malts, you should give it a try! (86/100)

nose: Lots and lots of lemon notes. reminds me of the CI unpeated, lemony theme, but with the added phenols, peat and smoke . very fresh, green grass, green apple peel. the ABV is evident.. a nose is different than both 12 and 18. i do think it’s really unique.

Palate: Obviously young and kicking! strong peat, with sweet middle and mouth coating. Oily. Salty notes appear after you chew on it a bit. yep! sea spray salty! what a nice touch!

Finish : heaps of peat. very warming and long.some bacon notes and spice. the longest of all three in terms of finish. Ace.

Colour is light as possible, almost clear with a node to cheap apple-juice. Nose is smoke and turpentine. Body is rich and filling. First taste is smoke and heather or herbal tea finishing with some sweetness to back bacon (Canadian Bacon).

This was another taster at The Lark distillery/whisky bar.

The nose is peaty, with hints of sweetness and malt. Really meaty and powerful. More complex than it sounds. I would need a few glasses over a few weeks to get to the bottom of the nose.

The taste is powerful and warm (as you would expect from a cask strength release. The sweetness continues - developing a caramel quality, and is joined by the peat and smooth smoke, along with tongue-tingling spiciness and gentle alcohol warmth. Wonderfully balanced dram

The spirit burn continues for several seconds before fading slowly, bringing the spice back, before the peat and smoke slowly take over.

A very decent dram, now on my wish-list...