Caol Ila 1983 Aged 30 Years Special Release 2014

Style: Elegant and Complex

Rating: ☆☆ [Highly Recommended]

Nose:

Fragrant pine aroma singing the top notes as smoked bacon quietly gathering at the front. Vanilla whipped cream topping while tropical fruits and iodine blotches filling up the spaces. Incredibly elegant and fruity. A touch of wood varnish, mineral notes and soft maritime breeze. Five spices, star anise sprinkling on slightly tarry cherry black forest cake.

Palate:

A most elegant touchdown of beautiful orchard fruits lightly wrapped with ashy peat and vanilla notes. Glorious forest pine cruises through and leaving an oaky trail. Tropical fruits, figs and toffee simmering together and tenderly building up a luscious core. Mineral licks, laundry powder side notes. Iodine and smoked mackerel flashing at the back. Milk chocolate, amber coal, limestone and a wee herbal end to it.

Finish:

Walnut, pine cone, chocolate and apple toffee. A pinch of sea salt and ashy peat clinging on at the bottom.

Thoughts:

I have written a review on this excellent Caol Ila four years ago (time flies!), and now I am revisiting it in this troubling 2020. Now, the tasting note and rhythm feels fairly similar to what I wrote years ago, but after years of “training” (also read drinking), I am able to describe it in a more comprehensive manner. Perhaps due to the utilization of different cask types, it creates another level of complexity and making it a colourful expression. Absolutely love this and probably it will be another modern classic down the books.

[55.1% | Original Bottling | 1983 Distilled | 2014 Bottled | Natural Cask Strength | Bottle Number: 3649 **+]

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