Is it Really Islay "Light"? Caol Ila 12-Year-Old Single Malt Whisky
Written: Jan 06 '09
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Product Rating:
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Pros: peaty like an Islay should be
Cons: not all that peaty - and a touch sour at the finish line
The Bottom Line: There are better Islay whiskies than Caol Ila, but that's like saying there are better baseball teams than the Mets: there aren't that many better ones!
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| scmrak's Full Review: Caol Ila Scotch 12 Yr. |
I've an acquaintance who offers first-time guests a "wee dram o' whisky," and asks them how they'll take it. Should the word "ice" appear in the answer, he pours them a blend (Johnny Walker Black, I hear) - but if the answer's "neat," out comes the good stuff. I passed the test the first time, and found myself lingering over a cut-crystal tumbler with a couple of fingers of Lagavulin 16 swirling in the bottom. On other visits, it's been an Oban 14 and once a Highland Park 18. Next time Ray stops by my house, I'll have to see what he thinks of the 12-year-old Caol Ila I found in Mexico City duty-free. Newbies be forewarned: it's an Islay single-malt, which means that it's an acquired taste from the get-go...
Caol Ila, which translates from Gaelic as "Sound of Islay" (the stretch of water that separates wee Islay from the Isle of Jura off the west coast of Scotland), is the smallest of the seven historic distilleries on the island. The eighth, a microdistillery, just began production in 2005. Unlike those powerful, in-your-face super-peaty whiskies from the south of the island (we're talking Laphroaig and Lagavulin), Caol Ila (pronounced something similar to "cull eelah") is a somewhat lighter in color and taste. In that, it comes closer to the even lighter output of neighboring distilleries Bowmore and Bunnahabhain. The taste is in the water, the natives of Islay would have it - and the springs that produce Caol Ila's water are almost as deep in the peat as the springs on the southern shore. Those who find the flavor of Laphroaig too pungently smoky ("ashy," the Ms calls it, rather "like licking an ashtray") are unlikely to warm up to Caol Ila, either.
Great: that means more for me...
Tasting notes:
Color: pale straw with tiny glints of green
Nose: peat - a powerful jolt of peat - with faint notes of sea salt and spice, perhaps even a faintest citrus note. A few drops of water cut back on the peat and strengthen the citrus and spice as well as raise some nutty notes.
On the tongue: starts fairly sweet, with a lot of peaty smoke. Long finish; curiously bereft of the oak and sherry one often finds in the best whiskies.
Body: fresh, smooth in the mouth: not as "raw" as the southern Islay single malts, with a slower burn and a less aggressive attack.
Finish: long and smoky with a mild astringency, even very slightly sour at the very end.
Overall: Though its flavor is noticeably redolent of the distinctive Islay peat, yet considerably less pungent than the better-known malts from the little island; Caol Ila manages to hold its own in the tasting room.
Fans of the Islay family of single malts, and I count myself among them, should certainly plan to add Caol Ila to their life list. The green bottles with a subtle ivory label tend to be hard to find - the distiller's PR flacks call it a "secret malt," though I've seen it at a whisky bar or two - but a wee dram o' Caol Ila will prove worth the effort to find it.
Recommended:
Yes
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