A sherried, single cask single malt distilled at Caol Ila in 2006. The peated Islay whisky matured for 16 years in a moscatel hogshead, with an outturn of 317 bottles, this was bottled with natural colour, and non-chill filtered.
Appearance
Yes a very dark leaning towards mahogany colour here. The swirl line beads up immediately so can’t see it’s thickness, and it costs the whole glass, followed by thin legs and teardrops that hand below the swirl line. #thewhiskeychaps
Nose
Loads of stewed dark fruits, plenty of wood notes, and a faint hint of sulphur. Dates, figs, cloves, and cardamom, soft dark plums, chocolate coated raisins, some dunnage, and i think a hint of salted caramel too. #thewhiskeychaps
Ozone and fresh coffee now, the peat is quite light, and the nose has died off quite quickly #thewhiskeychaps
Palate
Nice mouthfeel, and it’s kind of fresh for me, the ozone thing, then lots of dark fruits with green grapes and greengages. Red and green bell peppers, a slight menthol sweetness/freshness, and Victoria plums. #thewhiskeychaps
It’s certainly a big dram, loads of flavour, rounded, and still getting the same fruit. The spices leave quite quickly, the fruits last longer, then Pontefract cakes. #thewhiskeychaps
Finish
Medium long for me, the finish is more of the bulk of the palate tbh. It’s got plenty going on but doesn’t really develop any further for me. It’s warming, perhaps toasted tea cakes, the peat seems largely lost, I think the cask has had lots of impacts. #thewhiskeychaps
My thoughts
Now, these are a range of whiskies i’m well aware of, but hadn’t until this point gotten around to trying, a certain expectation did come with it to be honest. I did enjoy this whisky, it’s certainly not short of aromas and flavours. Once i got to the end of it i realised that much of the Caol ila characteristics had been possibly over run by the finish it’s been given, and that was all i could think about afterwards, which i found a little surprising.
At the suggestion of @gordonsmith63, i went back to this dram, and it was better than i said during our tasting. I think it’s the first time iv’e had palate fatigue during a tasting, it has been noted down.
The peat level is reduced, but is definitely there, and there are plenty of spices, the whole thing becomes quite dark and chewy at the end.
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