Critics reviews
Grassy. Wet straw. fruity, delicate. Custard, fruit yoghurt. Fresh with a zesty hint. Moss. With water, polished floor. Distant smoke.
Palate
Round and sweet at start then dries with a fizzy feel. Alcohol is slightly biting. Baked apples.
Finish
Dry and spicy. A grassy aftertaste.
Comment
The palate does not have the nose delicacy. Water tones the alcohol down but brings out astringency. A Caol Ila? I would never have guessed.
Martine Nouet - Whisky Magazine Issue 109 Nose
Young and spirity, a certain amount of acetate, pear drops, film cases. Pine notes, grilled pineapple. Fresh sharp tobacco, a pipe smoked in the distance, green leaves, mango skin.
Palate
Sharp and sweet, honeycomb crunch. Space saucer sweets filled with sherbert. Those fruit notes are here as well, lurking.
Finish
Long and spiced.
Comment
The alcohol needs taming to reveal its lush lovely side.
Rob Allanson - Whisky Magazine Issue 109
About this SPIRIT
Caol Ila Distillery, Islay
Caol Ila (Gaelic for 'the Sound of Islay') was built in 1846 by Hector Henderson, a Glasgow businessman with a keen interest in distilling. The distillery is hidden in a quiet cove near Port Askaig, overlooking the Sound of Islay. The water source for Caol Ila is the peaty Loch Nam Ban about a mile away from which the water flows through fields, arriving at a waterfall near the distillery. The six stills are large and lantern-shaped.
Caol Ila is considered to be one of the lighter of the Islays and tends to be medium-bodied with a rounded flavour. Whilst this malt has a peaty nose, it also has distinct floral notes and is often described as tasting slightly of seaweed, smoky, salty, and with a dry peppery finish. However, the distillery also releases unpeated malts.
Caol Ila is by far the biggest on Islay, producing over 6.5 million litres of alcohol a year.
(Adapted from the Malt Whisky Yearbook 2024)
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Description
Nose
Grassy. Wet straw. fruity, delicate. Custard, fruit yoghurt. Fresh with a zesty hint. Moss. With water, polished floor. Distant smoke.
Palate
Round and sweet at start then dries with a fizzy feel. Alcohol is slightly biting. Baked apples.
Finish
Dry and spicy. A grassy aftertaste.
Comment
The palate does not have the nose delicacy. Water tones the alcohol down but brings out astringency. A Caol Ila? I would never have guessed.
Martine Nouet - Whisky Magazine Issue 109 Nose
Young and spirity, a certain amount of acetate, pear drops, film cases. Pine notes, grilled pineapple. Fresh sharp tobacco, a pipe smoked in the distance, green leaves, mango skin.
Palate
Sharp and sweet, honeycomb crunch. Space saucer sweets filled with sherbert. Those fruit notes are here as well, lurking.
Finish
Long and spiced.
Comment
The alcohol needs taming to reveal its lush lovely side.
Rob Allanson - Whisky Magazine Issue 109
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