Whisky : Caol Ila 6 Year SMWS 53.276 “Ein kleiner deutscher samurai”

Country/Region : Islay

ABV : 61.2 %

Cask : Refill Hogshead

Age : 6 Years (Distilled 7 March 2012)

Nose : Bright sunny summer day along the sea shore.  A day at the beach with a wet salty dog.  The nose is damp like a pile of leafs after the rain, burning wet wood, and mossy stones.  Perhaps the thick steam from a bed of coals doused with sea water.  Lovely salt and meat like tinned smoked oysters.

Palate : Moist compost heap on a chilly autumn day— loads of mold, dampness, and dried leafs.  It is the sweet rot of vegetation, damp bark, and a mossy pond.  A bit medicinal, a bit mineral, toward the back end the dram takes on a bit of activated charcoal soap or perhaps some sticky beach tar.

Finish :  Lingering algae infused pond water with a scoop of brown sugar.

Score : 6

Mental Image : Sweet pond water on an Autumn afternoon.

Something Similar : Orkney 17 Year; The Exclusive Malts (similar tinned smoked fish/oyster)

Something Similar : Ledaig 13 Year SMWS 42.45 (similar pond scum, more maritime/citrus/salt)

Something Worse : Nikka Date (similar mossy notes, more spice, less body/finish)

Notes :  ‘Young Caol Ila in a Refill Hogshead’ is not normally a phrase that gets you out of bed— especially if it is a little kid pretending to be a German Samurai.  I have no idea what that means, I assume its a cultural reference of some kind.  It sounds loud, maybe even obnoxious.  Or perhaps I am cringing a bit as I suddenly reflect on my own childhood memories of pretending to be a ninja.

This was delightful— the body was nice and thick and the maritime notes were so clean.  There were no sharpe edges or dull blunt force flavor trauma here.  The dram was intense, make no mistake, but it was wonderfully balanced between a maritime profile and tantalizing hints of minerals and autumn decay.  I would probably toss this into the category— mostly dominated by Craigellachies— of drams that take me back to Autumns long gone by.  It provokes a strong memory of sitting near a pond during a Fall chill, the sky low, grey, and overcast, the trees denuded of branches, the air heavy with the smell of dried leaves and decaying plant matter.  The finish on the dram just leaves that taste of sweet pond matter lingering for quite some time.

A perfect example of just how good a young Islay can be.  I may not understand the name, but I really appreciated and enjoyed the scotch.