Ah, Caol Ila! One of my all time favorites, ever since I bought that Caol Ila 18 about 6 or 7 years ago. I guess for me that’s a bit like it is for Graeme at the Edinburgh Whisky Blog. That’s also a bit of the reason why I bought it, and to see whether the older Caol Ilas are any good. I’ve tried a few from different bottlers, like Port Askaig and the Bladnoch Forum and that were good whiskies, but not overly impressive at 25 or 30 years old.

Nose:
Heavy and oily, almost like factory machines. Also smoked eel, lots of that, and some heather. While it sounds weird, the nose is very clean, apart from the machine smells. It does smell like Caol Ila though, they have that oily scent in a lot of their bottlings. I like that.

Taste:
It is rather gentle to the tongue with hints of pepper. Quite light, but I didn’t expect anything else after a nose like this. It might just be a little thin, but then it start building and building until it is some kind of Balrog. It gets rather ashy and fiery.

Finish:
The finish is sharp, in a way that you almost don’t dare to move your tongue or taste more. It almost burnt the inside of my mouth. Very clean again and the oil is back as well. Lasts for quite a while.

This is a very interesting whisky. While it all starts rather gentle, as soon as you start tasting it, it turn up the heat until its almost unbearable. Very, very hot and it started hurting after a few seconds. In a good way.

Caol Ila 1981, Malts of Scotland, 59.8%, Bourbon hogshead #4807, no longer available