19/03/2024 Caol Ila

Caol Ila 35yo 1984/2020 (47.5%, The House of Macduff The Golden Cask Reserve, C#CM260, 204b, b#128): nose: it smells like the most marvellous campfire on a misty dawn, something to warm up the soul after a chilly night. Smoked lichens, an omelette with chives, fried in a tin pan, and then we move closer to woody and coastal influences: wood varnish, carbonyl, turpentine, the varnished hull of a small boat, iodine, fishing nets hung out to dry. Smoked lichens insist on not being forgotten, a herbal touch that gives this a near-medicinal side too. Namechecking merbromin would not be too much of a stretch. Behind that are Kalamata olives, and, further still, scorched earth cooling down. The second nose manages to conjure up burnt chocolate-cake crust, charred cauliflower florets, and smoked mint. It soon turns away, and serves scorched earth ploughed by a tractor. A vague salty-air scent may remain, yet it is now becoming a farm-y number, with heaps of beetroots and Korean radishes, alongside smoked ginger. Mouth: wow! Earthy, maritime, and sweet all at once. Indeed, we have honey-glazed cockles, scorched earth, confectionary-sugar-coated mussels, and merbromin blended with Golden Syrup. It really is an original combination, and it works a treat. A clear bitterness rears its head, after a wee while, black-olive stones and smoked vine leaves, as does a drop of salt water. Clear, yet also fleeting: said bitterness comes in and out of frame, providing interest without the negative connotation that bitterness could have. Chewing on this reveals silt and mud patties, dripping with water (marsh water, that is), and more smoked lichens. The second sip is just as inexplicably sweet and smoky, yet it now has a certain dryness as well, a mixture of quarry chippings and lime zest. Acidic and gently bitter, it does not lose sight of the boggy earthiness from earlier: silt and mud, light peat, gorged with marsh water, and soaked cigar leaves. Finish: ideally balanced (that sweet spot of natural-40-to-50%), it has marsh water and marshlands, smoked sphagnum moss, cockles being purged, dredged-up sludge, drying on a barge, old fishing nets, with algae stuck in it, harbour clams, salty and imbibed with diesel from the fishing boats. This finish is indeed a little petrolic, which gives it an extra dimension. The second gulp sees two things: firstly, a lovely smoked-lime custard, refreshing and dessert-like; secondly, manure. Now, that may not read so, but rest assured that that combination is highly effective and, for tOMoH, enjoyable. Repeated sipping numbs the gums a little, with spearmint and chlorophyll, smoked rock salt, and cracked black pepper. It does not seem like there is anything left of the mussels, cockles, and olives from earlier. Even the scorched earth is almost forgotten, though it ends with a lingering note of burnt hazel wood. This is still a killer dram that covers so much ground. It is the sort of whiskies one could spend several hours with, and still discover new things. 9/10 (Thanks for the dram, JS)