Caol Ila ( Official) - 12 years - 12 y.o. - 43,0%
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- Bottler:
- Official
- Age:
- 12 years
- Alcohol:
- 43,0%
- Bottle details:
- average
-
- (84,32)
- price class:
7 notes disponibles en français
The first nose is rather fruity, mix of plum and citrus fruit with nice but first discrete peaty hints, which gradually become more dominating, to finally overwhelm the fruits.
The palate is quite pleasant too, with slight chocolate dominating hints, a bit of nutty bitterness and amazing enough, no fruits at all...
The finish is rather short and the memory of peat is clearly present.
This bottle has been opened for many months now, this could explain this a bit confusing tasting notes.
2009The nose is clearly marked by peat and the associated humid undergrowth smells. A touch of smoke, but rather discrete.
The mouth is pleasantly oily, with this excellent peaty hints and a touch of acidity which gives it a kind of freshness. Very nice impression of quiet strength, even if this strength is quite monotone.
The finish is rather long and quite smooth, with still the presence of this refined peat. An excellent introduction to peated Islay malts.
2007J.L. Zamora
Nose: smoked some how burnt grass or wood (in my lenguage: xerdu), salty,polish antisepthic?. Mouth: spycy, oily, dry smoke whith good intensity. Finish: long, smoked fish and salty This bottle probably remeber a port ellen?henr
2006Henrik Johansson
Appearance: Chardonnay white wine.
Nose: Delishiously sweet nose with lots of rubber, smoky and malty scents. Quite complex and interesting. Minty and peaty aromas emerge from the addition of water. There's also a wiff of old books, surgical spirit and a slightly bitter tingle that lingers.
Body: Medium and quite firm.
Palate: Sweet and malty to taste, not so much of the smoke carries over. There's a long, feinty tingle that seems to last forever. Development: After four months, less than a third of the bottle remains so I thought I'd do an evaluation. The nose is much dryer than I remembered it, the predominant expression is of burnt lumber that has soaked in water. There's some cocao in the background together with some burnt rubber and roast.! The palate s still sweet and balanced with a truly majestic finish that is quite smoky and a little sherried. Elegant palate. I rated the 4 month old bottle slightly higher than the newly opened one.
2006The rich smoky peat flavours from this Islay malt announces a great whisky. wonderfully sweet and rich, this bottle is a perfect illustration of the know-how of the distillery. A great moment. I recommend this bottle to anybody.
A real Caol Ila like one loves it, a wonderful balance. Everything is present without excess. Iodine, salt, seaweed, high seas, everything contained in a whisky which gave me a strange feeling of calm and fullness. A very great malt.
The finish is remarkably long, and the pleasure stays long in the mouth.
2004The second tasting just confirmed the first one. A very great Islay malt, at least for those who appreciate smoke and peat.
Peat, but refined and powerful at the same time, with hints of smoke and iodine and touches of bee wax characterize the nose of this very nice whisky. In the palate, the delicate side of this whisky, peated and salted, but very sweet and complex contrasts with the smoke, however very well balanced as well. A nice finish, delicate just as the whole. Some milk chocolate, perhaps...
2005Johannes_Sauer
Colour: Golden white wine (coloured or not, the label don’t say anything so this beauty lets me think it is not, but I may be wrong...).
Nose: Like other Ileachs like Laphroaig or Lagavulin this has its very own class A very beautiful and clear defined combination of nifty peatsmoke arranged together with different impressions like lime peel, pears, quinces, photo developer, apple vinegar, old but freshly polished leather boots, sawdust, cold ashtray, boat rope and wet newspaper.
Taste: Here we have the impressions named above (leave out the pears, quinces and the apple cider) complemented with forest earth and moss, soaked in rainwater. This very appealing combination leads towards a very expressive
Finish: with citrus notes and chemicals combining themselves more and more with very fine and elegant herbal bittersweet (Campari) notes.
Conc.: The perfect opener for a good meal, and a great companion for preparing a such. Also great with dark chocolate or very old Gouda cheese. An old time favourite for me, I just don’t know why they talk on the label of “hidden malt”, I think this times are long ago. I would be glad to try such an old hidden malt bottling.
Tasting date: 01/10/2010
Price in Germany: 39,00 Euro 1 Liter bottle
2010
