Caol Ila 13 yo (2003/2016), Maltbarn, 55,5 %

Review #368

This is a single cask bottling from a Sherry cask. Only 175 bottles were made. The smell is light and full of sweet peat. Clementine and cake sweetness. As it settles, the peat gets less and less dominant.

Much, much more power and peat in the taste. Still a light and sweet peat though. Not much happens in the finish. It is just the flavours from the taste that lingers out. Some hints of citrus and oak comes to mind, but the Sherry cask certainly didn’t give the whisky the classic Sherry notes. At all! It’s a long finish though…

It is a fine dram, don’t get me wrong, but when I exhale I expect a lot to happen in the finish, but nothing appears… It is cask strength at 55,5 %, yet the complexity lacks… If you just want a strong peated whisky (not heavy Islay peat though), this is a fine choice. I will give this 82/100 (20/21/21/20).

*** paid sample ***