Caol Ila 25 Year Old 1983 Carn Mor Vintage Collection

This little bottle has been gathering dust in my cabinet for quite a while. I bought it at the end of April 2010 after a Carn Mor Vintage tasting. Maybe it got overlooked because of its size? Anyway, this stuff is 25 years old, right? So let us open it up. You only live once.

This is an almost tropical Caol Ila! Wonderful touches of mango, pineapple, blood orange, gooseberry and a fat slice of kiwi. It is creamy, almost fatty, on the nose. Delicious. Barely any smoke. Something floral as if from wild flowers. I would never have recognized this in a blind tasting.

It could have done with a little more body, but taste wise it is grand. Sweet – again tropical, but now also with a surprising touch of chocolate – and immediately spicy and smoky. Licquorice. Salt. Lemon tea. Kiwi again, ha!

The finish is somewhat short, but I am already in a happy mood now.

Such a big whisky in such an unassuming bottle. Great.

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