Whisky : Caol Ila 9 Year; Elixir Distillers’s Single Malts of Scotland

Country/Region : Scotland/Islay

ABV : 58.9%

Cask : Ex-Sherry Hogshead (Gonzalez Byass) (Distilled 3 Sept. 2009, Bottled 28 Feb. 2019)

Tasting : Neat in a Glencairn @ Home

Nose : Lovely depth to the nose that starts in a messy art Studio with oil paint, turpentine, and stretched canvas scattered about.  Outside the studio is a rundown boardwalk along an industrialized shoreline; salty maritime air, distant coal smoke, rusting iron, and some rotten seafood.  Tying everything together in the background is some salty lavash, lemony citrus, and a bit of creamy meringue.

Palate : Sharpe citrus and sea water— a slice of lemon in a glass of salt water?  Sweet crystallized ginger provides a sweet heat while white pepper provides an almost stinky floral tone.  It is an oily rusting shipwreck a hundred yards out in the surf.  A strong tea in which someone has accidentally added salt instead of sugar.

Finish : Lingering tart citrus candy, warm spices, and faint smoke.  Lovely long finish.

Score : 7

Mental Image : Sweating glass of ice cold sea water with a lemon wedge.

Something Similar : Caol Ila 17 Year “Unpeated Style” (similar clean salt/lemon, more funk, more fruit)

Something Similar : Rock Oyster/Island 18Y (similar citrus and saltwater, less finish, less rust/rot)

Something Worse : Nikka Yoichi NAS (less intense salty maritime, less finish, less clean citrus)

Notes :  What an absolute treat!  I love the combination of pungent salt, oil, and tart citrus.  When a Caol Ila comes together it borders on greatness.  I adore all the elements in this glass and the finish was absolutely brilliant.  I think the nose might have been the highpoint, it had so much complexity, so many strong mental images and memories associated with it.  I do wish the body had been a bit more complex, really that is all that kept it from ascending a bit higher.  

This is definitely a bottle I would buy to have at home as it hits so many wonderful notes.  There is a lot to love about Caol Ila and there is no lack of independently bottled single cask offerings.  I have not had any older Caol Ila, so I am still curious how it changes with changes with additional time in the cask.  Yet, these young bottles are so wonderfully brash with layers of delicious peaty notes that I can easily imagine a taster giving them a sip and calling out in the warehouse ‘bottle it now!’