This is one of the last samples that I picked up while in Scotland at the end of 2024. I poured this lovely dram while at the Cadenhead’s Tasting Room cafe in Campbeltown. Earlier in 2024 I tried a number of fabulous old Caol Ila from Cadenhead’s while at the Swan Song in Singapore, so I was primed to take advantage of this pour when I had the opportunity. Now that I am at the end of my Caol Ila reviews, it felt like the perfect time to try it out.

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Whisky: Caol Ila 40 Year (1981), Cadenhead’s Whisky Shop London

Country/Region: Scotland/Islay

ABV: 52.2%

Cask: Oak

Age: 40 Years (Distilled 1981, Bottled 2022)

Notes: Charcoal, clay, and a soft mineralic brine— the aroma took me somewhere between an art studio for throwing clay or drafting in charcoal and an industrial dockside. Soft tar, driftwood, and a bit of spilt petrol lingered on  briny harbor water with ceramic glaze, stretched canvas, and mineral oil. I waited for the aroma to settle between those competing visions, but instead it added floral notes of rose, vanilla, and musk remindiong me of talcum powder or baby shampoo. Medium-bodied on the palate, the whisky had a tannic woody heft behind notions of tar, sea, and talcum powder— it was vanilla soft and powdery with oil slicked sea water, earthen pottery, and a touch of white pepper stink. Perfumed and a touch plastic at times, the flavor profile moved toward dried and candied pineapple and mango— chewy and sweet. The finish was long and perfumed with soft coconut pudding, vanilla, minerals, and florals.

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Score: 9 (91)

Mental Image: Clay Jugs of Scented Bathing Water

Conclusion: This was the most unusual Caol Ila I have had in a long time— I thought my palate was broken with all of the wonderful soft floral notes that began to emerge on the aroma, and came on more forcefully on the palate. This was no soap bomb, it was a gentle pitcher of scented oils and creamy bathwater. I wanted to melt into this. 

The profile was so unusual that as soon as I finished typing my notes I went to check whiskybase. I do not usually bother doing so until I am posting my notes, but I wondered if perhaps I was having an off night. I was not. In fact several people used similar, or at least familiar, language to describe the whisky and those notes were still present when I poured it a few weeks later. I do not mind blazing my own path and following my eccentricities, but sometimes it’s nice to know others have shared the same experience.  Overall, a wonderful whisky and a high mark for so early in the year!