Caol Ila 18 Year

Mash Tun, skotlanti 2018

Another update from my trip to Scotland, I tried this dram at Amber bar at the Scotch Whisky Experience in Edinburgh. Caol Ila 18 is a delight. Despite my love of Laphroaig, Lagavulin, and Ardbeg, one of the ironies of this trip was that Caol Ila was the biggest revelation from going to Scotland, even without visiting the actual distillery. I tried several Caol Ilas that just knocked me out, including this one but also the Caol Ila Distillers Edition (and you know a distillery's good when their distillers edition actually is worth drinking). I've realized that Caol Ila, which has fewer standout flavors in its youthful incarnations, matures really well and perhaps better than its more famous cousins. This 18-year old whisky starts off with scents of smoke and aged, buttery malt, before transitioning to a sweeter and fruitier palate than expected (marshmallow, lemon, toffee, peat). The finish is signature Caol Ila and remains robust, with flavors of tar and smoky peat for days. For some reason, Caol Ila has become a little harder to find in the States in the last year or so; perhaps a lot of people are coming to the same realization that I made on this trip.