N: Fragrant and perfumy with smoke-dried flowers, a shimmer of fresh cut vegetables, and then a lemon and sweet grapefruit citrus. Some wet earth, cereal grains, and fresh white bread. Longer it sits in the glass, more I think there's some red fruit in there. Bit of caramel, apple, and cinnamon. It is a gentle and soft nose, certainly by Islay standards, but even generally. P: Red fruit, caramel, vanilla, dried lemons. Notable earthy/heathery notes. Vanilla cream that borders on frosting sweet. Midpalate brings some citrus candy. Holding it on the tongue, after a beat, you get some darker bread and richer caramel notes that just suddenly pop. Finish brings just a splash of cayenne heat early, then fades to an earthy mineral note with caramel, milk chocolate, and lemon citrus mingling. I compared Lag 16 to a Jaguar once* - maybe here, can't remember for sure. Well, if Lag 16 is a classic Jag coupe that you can stuff all your host's paintings and fine silver into the trunk and all they'll say is, of course, it's a Jaaaaaaaag, then this is the MG equivalent where maybe you can stuff a toaster into the trunk - wait, do MGs even have trunks? The Lag 16 has power, class, polish, charisma. This Caol Ila has a similar profile and just enough of some of those things to create a few devoted fans, but it's a pale shadow of its down-coast island neighbor. In particular, the nose here is just too soft and some of the notes really never quite come together to form the cohesive whole and iconic presence you get from the Lag. The midpalate here falls a tad flat and lacks power and the finish is fine, but nothing special either. And all that in a package that costs nearly the same as a bottle of Lag 16. Well, I know I'm picking the Jag over the MG about 99 times out of a 100, and I'm also taking the Lag 16 over this about 99 times out of a 100. But hey, maybe you're that person that just loves the MGs. There's actually nothing particularly bad about this whisky, except that it has a neighbor that does the same thing substantially better. And I can't see this one in any other light than the one that Lagavulin casts on it. *I'm sure I've done it more than once. _______ Please come join an unofficial Distiller community on Discord: https://discord.gg/VSmCvzAQfH. We chat spirits (and other things) in real time while being a great resource to each other for recommendations, finding deals, and generally enjoying the journey together. (If the link is expired, post a comment and I will provide a new one.)