Caol Ila 15 yo Gold Jug decanter Zenith 43% vs Caol Ila 12 yo The Single Cask for Singapore Whisky Bars including The Swan Song #307362 2007/ 2019 58.7% vs Caol Ila 17 yo 1977 / 1994 Cadenhead 59.2%
Caol Ila 15 yo Gold Jug decanter Zenith 43% ~ mid 80s
Lots of phenols and depth for a whisky that fells like its starting to shift down a gear. So, crushed shells and brine, lots of ripe seaweed raked up to shore to mulch, thick brown smoke, unlit coal piles, compounded oakmoss and sooty black resins. Crusted shovels and acres of dug up earth, a real boggy oily, almost peat sort of earth. Sure, hasn’t got the horsepower but I love this deep earthy and phenolic profile. 89 pts
Caol Ila 12 yo The Single Cask for Singapore Whisky Bars including The Swan Song #307362 2007/ 2019 58.7%
Cheers to the guys at The Single Cask and hooray Singapore bars! Right this one is not about subtlety. It’s immediate and powerful. Billowing white smoke, oven baked salted something, peated malt bins, fresh pulled roots flecked with white sand over hot coals and searing metal grills. The peat here is massive, bright and freshly cut. Very forward and drinkable. 87 pts
Caol Ila 17 yo 1977 / 1994 Cadenhead 59.2%
And then step back 30 years, into a different world. Instantly the density of the whisky seems doubled yet it’s become crystal clear and powerful. It’s minerals are razor sharp and salt laced. It’s smoke is thin but acrid and stinging. The peat is adamantine. Newly opened coal veins and battery acid. To be sure, this is not a complex whisky, This sort of Caol Ila is all brawn and no fat, chiselled and crystallised, and it lights its own path. Love. 91 pts
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