Caol ila 8 yo Port Octave Meeting of The Minds 51.1% ABV

The “Meeting of the Minds” bottlings of which the Caol ila is no 6, is a yearly limited bottling for a whisky symposium that i organise in Whisky restaurant Artisan. It is a meeting of whisky trade top exec’s from Scotland and the Netherlands, hence the name. Our bottler is North Star Spirits in Dumbarton. The owner is Iain Croucher.

This is a one off bottling of 60 bottles, as you have seen, a Port Octave  at 51.1 abv. I bottle regularly for the Dutch market, but this is the only one for the scots market, though I hope to introduce my own label in Scotland in 2023.

Wullie Macmorland 

Keeper of the Quaich

Appearance

This dram is deeper than mid gold in colour, the swirl line on my Glencairn is quite thick, and it drops very slow syrupy medium thick legs. #thewhiskeychaps

Nose

This is a very sweet peat dram, with noticeable eucalyptus aromas. Lime starburst sweets, and lemon sherbets are here, there’s an almost white wine note mixed with the peat for me, it’s also coming across a little dusty. #thewhiskeychaps

This is the sweetest Caol ila i think I’ve tasted, the nose is different and rather nice. I’m picking up pineapple and apricots, with an oiliness coming in, it balances nicely with the peat for me. #fhewhiskeychaps

Palate

Very nicely warming, nice and rounded too, with lots of stewed dark fruits coming along now. Cloves, figs, dates and raisins, Black Forest gateau, black liquorice, more mocha coffee, and a little drying too. Cigar leaves and dunnage also show up. #thewhiskeychaps

Finish

Quite long, constantly warning, with even more depth, almost molasses now, black treacle, sweetened mocha, very nice I have to say. Time for a drop of water #thewhiskeychaps

My thoughts

Of the four Caol ila’s we tried during this tasting, this was the one i was looking forward to the most, purely because it comes with a kind of mystique. I found this a very fruity dram, initially it was probably the sweetest Caol ila iv’e come across. Things definitely became darker over time flavour wise, and i really enjoyed it. Would i buy a bottle? Yes i definitely would, and i’d like to try more from the Meeting of the Minds range in the future.