Jan-Case
Caol Ila 15 Year Unpeated Style (2014 Special Release)
Single Malt — Islay, Scotland
Reviewed
July 26, 2020 (edited December 18, 2020)
(Pinkernells Islay Tasting Event)
This one was the strangest of the six pours during an Islay tasting event. One of my all time favorite whiskies of all time is a Caol Ila 14y cask strength refill American hogshead single cask. This one here is a Caol Ila 15y cask strength refill American & European hogshead but not peated. And in the end end I was left disappointed.
The nose is pretty basic with honey and apples, a bid of nutty marzipan and vanilla and a bid of pears. But everything mixed up and not very intense.
The palate then is very mixed-fruity sweet with not much else. If you add water to bring it down from its whopping 63 % ABV to around 55 % you get a bid of cucumber as well as cooked egg-white. Strange.
I am pretty sure the experience wasn’t as great as it would have been if I haven’t had 3 other very different drams (including strong peated ones) before. Maybe I will have a chance to try it again on a fresh palate some day. But I won’t be actively looking for it.
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@ContemplativeFox Both Caol Ila and Bruichladdich have unpeated iterations. @Jan-Case Does that mean they’re using peat as a ruse to hide bad juice? The 15yr sounds like it had similar cask maturation as the peated 14yr you liked plus one additional year of maturation to boot. @Telex thanks for the tip! I passed on the LE unpeated caol ila 17yr due to mediocre ratings. Now i’ll prolly reconsider.
@Telex that is insane. Wow, well I plan on a Scotland visit next year with my girlfriend, my son and my parents ... and we most likely will be doing that with a stay on Islay. And then Caol Ila distillery will be visited as well - maybe they have these smaller 200ml or 350ml bottles to purchase - well or I share with my dad. Of course all that only if that weird virus can be handled up until this point.
You might be surprised with heavy oxidation on Caol Ila unpeated bottles. I first gave the 17 a 2.75, but after oxidation it's a 4.25 minimum.
@jan-case I have 2 other unpeated ones. One's an NAS and one's the 18 year. Just so much better both of them.
@dhsilv2 interesting- did they really turn out that different? Good to know
I am without a doubt a fan boy of unpeated Caol ila...but not this one. This one missed the mark
Interesting to encounter an unpeated Caol Ila. Sorry it wasn't very good, but thanks for the review!