So, one of these was a semi-recent buy that I sort-of regretted. The other was bought because it is one of the whiskies that opened my eyes to the world of independent bottlers. Or at least very similar to that.

First Cask is a series by Whisky Import Nederland that started out really strong but has somehow fallen by the wayside over the last couple of years. Bottles aren’t moving, and when you try the more modern bottlings, you kind of understand why.

If you release a 16 year old single cask Glenmorangie and it only scores some 82 points on average, things are quite obviously wrong somewhere in the selection process…

Anyway, Caol Ila. Islay. Smoke. The works.

Caol Ila 10, 1988-1999, 43% – Hart Brothers

Sniff:
For whisky that’s ‘only’ been bottled 25 years ago, there is quite a lot of OBE (Old Bottle Effect). There are hints of barley, beery mash, a note of iron and earthy peat smoke. Salty, tarry notes too, but all very gentle. It comes across as older than 10/11yo.

Sip:
The palate is very similar to the nose but is surprisingly punchy, with more hints of tar, diesel and iron. Still there’s a lot of malted barley and earthy peat.

Swallow:
The finish has the same ‘ship’s engine’ notes, but is slightly less weighty, and a bit more coastal. Some breezy salinity and a hint of sand.

In a way I expect a 10 year old Caol Ila to be a bit more intense than this, but with a quarter century in a bottle, and it being made to the late eighties’ standards it’s not surprising this is a different thing that contemporary versions. And I like it for it. It’s not as obviously peaty as modern variants, but that timidness is quite lovely and gives room for nice, other flavors.

88/100

Caol Ila 10, 2011-2021, Hogshead, 56.2% – First Cask by WIN

Sniff:
A rather sweet and pastry driven nose, with a certain malt and strawberry milkshake aroma. There is some smoke, but the sweetness suppresses it.

Sip:
The palate packs a punch, and is bone dry. Abit of a rubbery, whale skin texture and massive heat.

Swallow:
On top of all the heat it veers back to the milkshake and strawberry sweetness as well as vanilla and pastry notes.

The milkshake like sweetness is very weird. Not in a ‘Bruichladdich’ sherbet way, but in a artificial flavor and sugar way. I can’t really be more enthusiastic about this.

79/100

I find it hard to be this harsh on a dram bottled by people I know and like, but I guess honesty comes first in this world of whisky reviewing. I wanted to like this whisky a lot more, but I can’t.

Only after reviewing this I found out I had already done so, much closer to its release. Strangely, I found it WAY more enticing than I did now.

This inconsistency is surprising to me, generally I remember things better, but I tend to be a bit more consistent than this time too. Strange.