Caol Ila in Utter Chaos, Part 3/4


January 16, 2026

Caol Ila in Utter Chaos, Part 3/4

Yesterday, we mentioned the Caol Ilas distilled at the old distillery, so up until 1972, the year it was more or less demolished ahead of being rebuilt. Let’s see what we can do…

The 'old' Caol Ila Distillery (Diageo)

Caol Ila 16 yo (40%, Gordon & MacPhail for Sestante, 75cl, +/-1985)

Gordon & MacPhail held considerable stocks of Caol Ila distilled between 1965 and 1972, most notably from 1969, likely the vintage behind this bottling for Sestante. It’s worth noting that the 1969 16yo ‘old brown banner label’ (WF 93) was magnificent despite its low strength, and this could well be the same batch, shipped unlabelled and later tagged by the importer. Colour: gold. Nose: everything has merged, unified in a dense tapestry of ointments, oils, waxes, and old herbal liqueurs. Irresistibly charming. You reach a point where it becomes impossible to separate the aromas, so tertiary, so intrinsic to the spirit in the glass, that analysis gives way to experience. And perhaps that’s exactly how it should be. Mouth: it brings to mind the Brora 1972s from G&M, slightly worrying at first due to the low ABV, then astonishingly complex and explosive once tasted. Let’s just say it’s the best smoked and salted butter caramel on earth, with a fragility that paradoxically becomes a strength. Finish: inevitably a little short but now comes the parade of missed notes, bergamot and kumquat, smoked fish, incense and ashes. Comments: a Mozart quartet.
SGP:444 - 93 points.

How to carry on from here? … At random!

Caol Ila 12 yo 2012/2025 (52.3%, James Eadie, Distilleries of Great Britain & Ireland, recharred American oak hogshead, cask #313104, 314 bottles)

Colour: chardonnay. Nose: not an easy follow-up to the Sestante, but this one holds its own for now, in a style completely opposite, creamier, more polished, thanks to the assertive oak. That said, freshness remains: smoked lemon, oysters, brine, wet ashes… With water: unchanged. Mouth (neat): it works, rich, slightly spicy (cask ‘curry’), but also full of excellent fruit pastes, quince, orange... With water: the saltiness now emerges from the wood. The oak itself is a touch dominant (nutmeg, pepper, ginger). Finish: fairly long, quite cask-driven, with lingering spice. Comments: blind, you’d almost think it was an official bottling. Very good, just a little wee bit too oaky for my personal taste.
SGP:556 - 83 points.

Caol Ila 15 yo 2007/2023 (53.4%, Sansibar for Casa de Vinos Whisky Abbey Festival, bourbon cask, 150 bottles)

A Scottish-German-Australian bottling, makes perfect sense, doesn’t it. Colour: pale white wine. Nose: it’s a blade, lemon juice and seawater, cuts straight through the sinuses, really ought to be covered by social security. With water: sea spray and coastal breeze, straight from the west coast of Scotland. Mouth (neat): ultra-classic, therefore perfect, tense, lemony, ashy, salty. Nothing much to add, it’s textbook. With water: lemon and grapefruit reinforce the tautness of the whole. Finish: unwavering, and it goes on, and on, and on… right up to that green pepper in the aftertaste. Comments: a whisky like Uma Thurman in Kill Bill.
SGP:467 - 87 points.

Caol Ila 16 yo 2008/2025 (54.8%, Liquid Treasures and The Whisky Fair, Barbados rum barrique finish, Love & Peace series, 274 bottles)

A 40-month finishing, let’s be honest, at that point we’re just calling it double maturation. Colour: gold. Nose: not especially defined at this stage, though attractive. Water will be key here. With water: I must admit, I’m a little lost, it feels like Caol Ila light. Mouth (neat): the rum cask influence is clearly present, but it doesn’t clash, it’s just a bit… ambivalent, shall we say. With water: much more to our liking now, the whisky has taken back control and the poor rum, which probably didn’t ask for any of this, has more or less gone back to bed. Finish: fair length, fairly rounded. Comments: the finishing seems to have nudged this toward a halfway point between classic Caol Ila and some sort of unpeated ‘Highland’ version of Caol Ila. It’s good, very good even, but was it strictly necessary? Still, love, peace and understanding indeed.
SGP:555 - 81 points.

Caol Ila 12 yo 2013/2025 (54.5%, Signatory Vintage for LMDW Plume, Itinéraires, sherry butt)

There’s been a fair bit of buzz around this one, and it’s high time we gave it a go. Colour: reddish amber. Nose: salted butter caramel. I repeat, salted butter caramel. Then an old fishing trawler docked in a Breton harbour. Presumably it would smell much the same in a Scottish port, only more of whisky than langoustine. With water: hints of varnish, kirsch and amaretti. Mouth (neat): oh it works, pipe tobacco, amaro, hot peppered chocolate, nocino and Arquebuse (you know Arquebuse?). With water: now it’s the peppercorns leading the charge, especially freshly crushed black pepper. Finish: long, very herbal and spicy, probably miles from ‘the distillery’ but through divine intervention, it all comes together this time. Roasted aubergines and bitter chocolate. Comments: a bit of a UFW (1), borderline garage whisky.
SGP:466 - 88 points.
(1) Unidentified Flying Whisky.

Caol Ila 13 yo 2012/2025 (53.1%, Decadent Drams, first fill sherry hogshead, 212 bottles)

You can sense from the label that the Decadent Drinks team has some background in the appreciation of flamenco. Colour: amber. Nose: very close to a salty amontillado, packed with walnuts, damp earth and even dried morels. Beneath that, heavily salted butter caramel and wood varnish. With water: lovely acetic and balsamic touches. Mouth (neat): superb bitterness, black pepper, curry, 90% dark chocolate, sherry vinegar and heavily salted jerky. With water: not much change, and that’s a good thing. Finish: same again, only more peppery and bone dry. Brings to mind dark chocolate with chilli, said to be good for you, apparently. Comments: for fans of very dry sherry and peat in tandem. Your humble servant, for instance.
SGP:266 - 89 points.

Caol Ila 15 yo 2009-2010/2025 (57.1%, Decadent Drams, first fill sherry hogshead, 252 bottles)

This flamenco fixation is becoming a real theme! But we do love flamenco too… and we all remember that magical trio: Al Di Meola, John McLaughlin & Paco De Lucia. Colour: amber. Nose: similar style, though less flamboyant, less acetic and saline, more focused on peat and walnuts, with touches of leather and tobacco. Feels slightly closed, especially after the devilish 2012, but water should sort that out. With water: the tobacco rises to the fore. Mouth (neat): we’re back in 2012 territory, though leaning more toward bitter oranges and lapsang souchong. With water: here the salinity takes the lead, think a rather extreme manzanilla. Finish: same story, lovely length. Black pepper and chilli in the aftertaste. Comments: water is absolutely essential with this one. We also suspect that both of these excellent bottles will benefit from cellaring, or a spot on the darkest shelf.
SGP:366 - 89 points.

Caol Ila 14 yo 2010/2024 (55.9%, The Whisky Blues, ex-Jamaican rum JMWP barrel, cask #318192, 217 bottles)

JMWP is of course Worthy Park, so let’s see whether this tango between Islay and rum finds its rhythm here, though one wouldn't be too sure, it might well jar. Colour: light gold. Nose: the combination is most earthy, with pronounced tincture of iodine and a faint sulphurous edge. Cabbage soup and spent fireworks. With water: it calms down, Caol Ila reasserts itself, showing some lovely notes of damp ashes and mint infusions, although one wonders whether the latter might be born of the malt-rum coupling. Mouth (neat): very intense, ultra-briny and peppery, you get the sense that the rum and the Islay are taking turns boosting each other, and perhaps it all goes a wee bit too far... With water: once again, it’s Islay that carries the day. Ashes, lemon, seawater. Finish: same elements. A return of fairly assertive pepper in the aftertaste. Comments: a very good Caol Ila but one that rather nudges you out of your comfort zone and may well lose you a little.
SGP:466 - 84 points.

Caol Ila 13 yo 2010/2023 (55.4%, Whisky Age, refill barrel, cask #319312, 220 bottles)

This one ought to be far more classical… Colour: pale white wine. Nose: indeed, it’s very fresh, on oysters and clams, lemon, fresh seaweed and a touch of wax, then some ashes but of the gentlest sort. With water: a chiselled Caol Ila, of great purity. Mouth (neat): perfect, lemony, brisk, still on ashes and oysters. Entirely clean-cut, simple yet effective, not the faintest hitch. With water: lovely medicinal touches appear, cough syrup, camphor, fir honey, eucalyptus pastilles… Finish: fairly long, precise, saline, very lovely. Comments: tremendous purity here, we’re smitten.
SGP:566 - 88 points.

Let’s finish with another young oldie…

Caol Ila 12 yo 1982/1994 ‘Cask Strength’ (62.4%, The Cooper’s Choice, VA.MA Italy)

We’d tasted another 1982 (b. 1995) Cask Strength by Cooper’s Choice just two days ago, and it had been excellent. Colour: white wine. Nose: lighter peat than in more recent vintages at a similar age, with a profile leaning more towards apple than lemon, yet brimming with elegance. Redcurrant, sauvignon blanc, spent matchboxes, oil lamp… In reality we’re clearly in close territory to the previous one. With water: chalk and fresh mint, then the usual virgin wool. From Islay sheep, naturally. Mouth (neat): lemons make a comeback, alongside plum eau-de-vie and vin jaune… But heavens, this is powerful! With water: perfect trio of green apple, smoked salmon and oysters. Finish: long and a little fattier, bringing to mind lemon-infused olive oil, though that’s not exactly my favourite. Comments: so we’d tasted that 1982 by Cooper’s Choice some years ago which had been simply sublime (WF 91) but that one was 30 years old. These younger versions are magnificent too, but even after thirty years in bottle, they haven’t yet attained that ultimate polish. I suspect we might have to wait another 30 years to reach that kind of level.
SGP:466 - 89 points.

Very well, that makes thirty Caol Ilas for now. I think on Monday we’ll push it to forty and stop there.

Check the index of all Caol Ila we've tasted