Slainte-Mhath
Caol Ila 1996 18 Year Old Malt Cask (Hunter Laing)
Single Malt — Islay, Scotland
Reviewed
December 19, 2017 (edited October 21, 2024)
At most parties, there is at least one character behaving a bit peculiar, as if not belonging to the group. That's the one. In a blind tasting, I would have taken this 1996 Caol Ila from Hunter Laing for a Laphroaig. The nose features musty, earthy peat smoke, briny seaweed, pears and loads of white pepper. At first sip, your palate is hit by a pyroclastic flow of dusty peatiness followed by coal ash, subtle vanilla and lemon zest. Over-brewed tea and wood spices dominate the medium finish. With that being said, I'm somewhat disgusted but weirdly fascinated.
RATING: 3.7/5.0 stars ≙ 85 pts → ABOVE AVERAGE [+]
112.0
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Bottle
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@Dreaming-of-Islay: That's why I mentioned it... I am not a hugh fan of Laphroaig, but I can imagine that Laphroaig-lovers will really like this style of Caol Ila!
Great review. I find the lemon-vanilla-cake flavor trio to be a hallmark of Caol Ila, although it sounds like this one has some funkier Laphroaig-esque notes that would probably make me like it better!
@Slainte-Mhath of course! Cheers!
@mikael: Thanks for adding this bottle for me!