I got points! 35 of them to be precise. Taking my own analysis from yesterday seriously, I analyzed each bit of the whisky separately. While it didn’t get me anywhere serious, it did get me a lot of points compared to any of the other days. I believe there’s only one or two days that I got 40 or so, so it’s almost a personal high score.

Based on the flavour I sent myself to the wrong distillery, Laphroaig instead of Caol Ila, but scoring a bit does make me happy. If only I did this since the beginning, right?

Caol Ila 26. Image from Whiskybase

Sniff:
I got lemongrass right off the bat, and smoke. Laphroaig it was (to me at least). It isn’t too sweet and has a scent of sand, and marram reeds (the brown grass on sand dunes next to the sea). Some charcoal too and it isn’t too strong, but cask strength.

Sip:
It’s full and rich, with sweet lemon. After a couple of seconds I get oak, and black pepper and chili pepper. It’s rather sharp, above 50% abv. Some soot, smoke, grass and a touch of salt.

Swallow:
The finish is a tad less heavy on the grass. It’s a bit sweeter  with more oak. I also get some barley now and it lasts pretty long.

The lemon and grass combination sends me to Laphroaig right away. The strength I settled for on some 53% to 54%. Then I started looking at Whiskybase. Didn’t have a clue to specifics but I didn’t expect the age to be ridiculously high.

When I saw it was Caol Ila it surprised me since I didn’t get any of that typical greasy Caol Ila-ness. The age was just as big a surprise since it still was a pretty sharp dram, and that doesn’t happen with every cask at 26 years old.

In the end I got 20 points for the region, and 15 for being close on the ABV. Let’s hope tonight brings some points again so we can go out with a minor bang. Or a pop. As long as it’s not a sizzle.

Laphroaig 14, 53.8%, Archives by Whiskybase. That’s what I filled in. What it was:

Caol Ila 1982-2006, 26yo, 54.3% – Duncan Taylor Rare Auld. Around € 110.