Caol Ila is the largest distillery on the island of Islay, producing over 2 million liters every year. The vast majority of that goes into Diageo-owned blends like Johnnie Walker Black Label, but there still remains some for eventual release as single malts. While the 12 Year is their single malt cornerstone, the distillery has been releasing a yearly series of unpeated whiskies over the past several years, including the 17 Year Unpeated. The Caol Ila 15 Year Unpeated is the first of a reported thirteen releases in the series.
Distillery: Caol Ila
Region: Islay
Age: 15 years
Strength: 59.1%
Price: $139.99
Maturation: American Oak hogsheads and European Oak ex-bodega butts
Location: Port Askaig
Nose: Lemon, orange peel, apricot, caramel, vanilla, peach, nectarine, strawberry
Palate: Brine, smoke, oak, lemon meringue, green pepper
Finish: Lemon, charred lemon peel
Comments: Letting the scotch sit for a good while in your glass before diving in can help calm the elements and allow the profile to fully assemble.
Adam – There’s a light touch of smoke on the nose, faint like the memory of its younger, smokier sibling. Once that gets out of the way, there is a surprising fruit basket of a nose to pick through that carries both citrus and sweet elements. The sweetness deepens to vanilla once you get closer. The Caol Ila 15 is a great scotch to practice your nosing on: start out with your nose a hands length away and gradually bring it closer, stopping to really smell every inch or two. This scotch should bring you on a journey before it ever even enters your mouth. All the elements remain light, especially for a cask strength whisky from Islay. Any lightness is yanked away once you take that first sip, however. Even at 15 years, this one is a beast on the tongue unwatered. Jenny’s trick about taking a sip of water right before a sip of whisky sorta works here too, muting some of the burn. Still, I wish this one rode a smoother ride without any tampering. After dropping a good bit of water in, a little smoke and brine come out for me. Maybe that’s what it is: there’s a strong sense of brine at lower proof that is hard to distinguish from the alcohol nip at higher proof unless you really focus on it. Makes me wish more of the fruit had carried through from the nose, as the palate is mostly brine, smoke and oak. The finish has some char at the end but resolves oddly fast. It may not be fair, given the purpose of this release was to showcase what appears when you take peat away, but I spent a lot of my time drinking this wondering how it would taste with the peat restored.
This scotch should bring you on a journey before it ever even enters your mouth.
Meghan – As I approached this whisky, I had two thoughts: (a) I like Caol Ila and (b) when it comes to age statements, I find 15 to be a sweet spot. Then I started my tasting and discovered that although a and b may be true, in this case a+b did not equal Caol Ila 15. Notes of apricot and caramel on the nose with a creamy and grainy palate, a bit like lemon meringue pie. There is also a celery/green pepper vegetal note. I didn’t find much on the finish. This whisky runs hot. It is almost 60% but I have tasted stronger whiskies that were a lot smoother. I expected that at a 15 year age statement that the higher alcohol would be tempered by age. Even with a lot of water (more than I’d normally add), it is still hot; water mostly brought out that antiseptic Islay taste. Overall, I found it underwhelming and in fact forgot that I was drinking it, leaving my glass with a bit left in it.
Ben – After I first poured it, I thought, “is something on fire?” That’s gone after a while and now there’s sweetness, like a fruit compote. It makes my mouth water when I smell it.
Kate – When I first poured the Caol Ila 15, it smelled like a really nice grilled cheese sandwich, the bread and the butter being toasted. Now that its sat for a while, I get the floral and sweet fruit like peaches and nectarines, but also strawberries, or sweet and sour, along with straight up vanilla. I like the heat, the physical sensation of the heat.
Henry – Toast, candied tangerine peel, and robust florals on the nose. Campfire smoke, light brine, and more vanilla-infused toastiness comes in on the palate. The finish is short and dry, with an afternote of charred lemon.
