alexey
Caol Ila 12 Year
Single Malt — Islay, Scotland
Reviewed
September 13, 2020 (edited April 25, 2021)
This is perhaps the most well-known Islay malt. Found in 1846 and is now owned by Diageo, most of Caol Ila production (95%) is intended for blends, so it’s very consistent and never disappoints. Both the core range (which is pretty narrow), and the independent bottlers are almost always a sure bet. Caol Ila is a peated malt at 38 ppm, but though the ppm level is the same as Lagavulin, the body of Caol Ila is much lighter. This is achieved by underfilling the wash and spirit stills during distillation, which gives the spirit more opportunity for reflux, and, as a result, produces its lighter character. The ppm consistency is achieved by distilling both peated and unpeated malts, and then blending them together. In fact, you can sometimes come across the non-peated Caol Ila, but this is definitely not the spirit it is known for.
Unfortunately, due to the scale of Caol Ila’s production, maturation now occurs on the main land, not at the distillery like it used to be years ago. The 12-year-old is matured in ex bourbon hogsheads, which gives it a pale staw color. Since this may not be very appealing to beginners of whisky who judge their dram by the color (never do this, it is in no way reflective of the taste), Caol Ila typically comes in dark-colored glass bottles. The 12-year-old is bottled at a friendly 43% ABV, slightly above the legal minimum limit.
The nose is fresh, medium strength, with medicinal and peaty notes, iodine, grass, and tobacco. There’s also some brine and faint citrus notes on the back. The palate is oily, smoky, with tar-like character, but also with some fruit and floral notes on the back. Not terribly complex, quite light-bodied, but well-balanced. It does not scream “peat” in your face like the Laphroaig does, but its not subtle either. Finish is long, medicinal and peppery.
A few drops of water in this 43% ABV dram (by the way, I don’t see the cloudiness, so it must be chill-filtered) opens more iodine and medicinal character, and the fruitiness becomes a bit less. The finish remains long and oily. I would probably skip water on this one, as it’s quite diluted already.
Overall, this is a solid dram, good for someone just starting their journey with the peated malts. There’s not a whole lot of complexity, but its well-balanced and mature enough to be enjoyed. Blends well with other whisky too.
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