Jose-Massu-Espinel
Islay 30yo Single Malt " The Cat" label, from The Whisky Jury
Single Malt — Islay, Scotland
Reviewed
January 1, 2022
Happy new year 2022!! I believe we are officially in the future or something (or at least that is what i believed that 2022 would be when i was 9 years old, back in 1992). Every new years eve i try to have some awesome, rare dram, to celebrated one more roundtrip around the sun. This year i picked a strange but lovely looking bottle called "The Cat Label", a 30yo Islay Single Malt whisky, bottled by the "Whisky Jury" at 51.5%abv, with a pale straw color.
On the nose, you get an ashtray note as soon as you uncork it. Gooseberries, lemon peel and pepper. Its like a bonfire inside a pond. Beautiful citric aroma, there is some medicinal background. Green apple juice. After 3 minutes it has released an aroma of salty sea water. I can guess it is a Caol Ila, it has that profile. Grapefruit and some lemongrass. Fruit peel spices. After a first sip, a superb orange aroma has appeared. It is the most accurate orange aroma ever. I have only found something similar in a 30yo Ballantine's. Orange peel. Grapefruit and other lovely citrics. It is so maritime and fruity, that it has blown my mind.
On the palate, you get this beautiful fresh orange, super citric palate; it is like eating an orange from the supermarket. Saltiness rise after a couple of seconds, super easy drinkable. A second sip gave me Vanilla, salt and a citric explosion that makes my eyes close a little bit. Third sip was sweeter. Marshmallows, sea salt, grapefruits.
Aftertaste was great. Ashy, peaty, dry raw rice finish. Wonderful. Cigarretes. It is like licking a paper sheet, it leaves your mouth completely dried, to then make you feel a nice salty/pepper spice that lasts forever. It is so sulphuric in a nice way that it feels i have had a crazy dips lollipop. Smoky neat stuff.
Overall, this was a superb offering, i think that there where only 264 bottles ever made, and they were asking like 300 dollars for it, which seems reasonable for what you are getting. I won't be surprised if The Whisky Jury reveals that this was in fact a Caol Ila, which i believe is in 75% of all independent secret bottlings of Islay's single Malts. Lovely whisky, good looking bottle, super collectible; my score for it is 93 over 100.
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