Caol Ila 12 yo Bulloch Lade for Zenith 43% vs Caol Ila 30 yo 1979 / 2010 Berry Bros #4604/5 55.6%
Caol Ila 12 yo Bulloch Lade for Zenith 43%
Muddy seawater mixed with oxidized lemon oil, chest rub, kelp, spilt petrol, oozingly oily black peat and old nets. A perfect blend of seascape and subtle old peat, the kind that doesn’t lean to excess. That said while it’s phenolic, it rather enjoys a spot on the cleaner side of things. White smoke, hot sand mixed with grime, lit firewood and coals throwing off dry white ash. Just a touch of rendered fat on hot grills, apples baking amidst rock salt and stones. Really filled with complexities but for the palate which is unavoidably thinner but that really can’t be helped. 90 pts
Caol Ila 30 yo 1979 / 2010 Berry Bros #4604/5 55.6%
A marked shift. Now we are on the umami of baked fish pie, generously salted browned butter, fresh picked seaweed, fishing nets, lit cigarettes, a small glass of muddy seawater mixed into dirty clay, chopped hay, dried coconut chips and a single slice of lemon. One feels the complexity here is driven from long maturation instead. The nose is great and the palate equally manages to juggle a mentholated effervescence, lemon oil, muddy brine, hot sand and billowing white smoke all at once. A tiny but disconcerting lilac does flit in and out. 90 pts
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