Caol Ila 12 Year Old
Cull Eela
0 489
Review by @PeatyZealot
- Nose~
- Taste~
- Finish~
- Balance~
- Overall89
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Distribution of ratings for this:
Color: green/gold. No caramel here I guess, but seems to be chill filtered since nothing cloudy happens when I drop some water in it. Unlike the CI cask strength.
Nose: Without water a little rough, but sweet oak n smoke come through right away. With 3 drops of water comes more smoke, fresh oak and a nice soft peat, seafoam, grassy lemon and vegetables. How your clothes smell after a BBQ.
Arrival: delicate mouthfeel, coming in slowly and getting more intense with a nice burn, American oak, herbs apples and lime
Developement: It evolves some hot creamy peat, nice ash and even some smoked bacon marinated in iodine haha. Lovely dry barley is present all the way down. Oh and salty seagrass.
Finish: More ash, meaty barley, smoke and a bit creamy still, Peaty Iodine returns later and leaves its taste for quite a minutes to come.
Conclusion: Grrrreat stuff! I think this is my favorite 'entry' Islay style* whisky. I even prefer it over Ardbeg 10 because I think its a little more delicate and less screamy. It has some nice dreamy complexity and it is quite balanced in the sense that the whole nose-finish sequence is consistently good and I never get bored of it. Good in the summer and winter and the price is right!
*=(Laphroaig 10, Ardbeg 10, Bunna 12, Talisker 10, Bruichladdich An Turas Mor, )
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@PeatyZealot - Every drinker has a different nose and palate, but yours may be the first whisky review I've read with which I agree 100%, point-for-point. I've always thought Caol Ila was the perfect introduction to peated whisky. And, yup, it still tastes great after you get used to the stronger peat monsters.
Very nice review -- even if I didn't agree with it so much!