Caol Ila 36yo 1980/2016 (52.3%, Cadenhead Authentic Collection, Bourbon Hogshead, 210b): nose: medicinal, kipper-y and smoky, it has bandages, fishing nets and Yarmouth bloater s(did you know they are sometimes called Billingsgate pheasants? Ha! Ha!), as well as a drop of ink on old scrolls (the Irish Sea Scrolls, certainly). Coffee grounds, hessian sacks, a camp fire on boggy marshlands, then hot sands and mahogany ashes. It has a bog-water aspect, yet it is kept in check, and it is spongy moss over domestic drain anyway, so nae bother. Later on, it turns salty in a salty-meadows sort of way, with whelk and kelp sharing the picture with grazing sheep. That salt becomes almost chalky, over time... and then smoky tones come back. Mouth: very much in line with the nose, teeming with smoky bonfire ashes, kippers, salty meadows, burning incense and cinnamon sticks. The wood has almost disappeared, with aniseed the sole remnant. This time, however, it has a definite sweetness to it. Sweetened Lapsang Suchong, fruit-tree ashes, honey-glazed smoked mussels, mentholated disinfectant, warming ointment, neoprene. It seems to become sweeter and fruitier as time passes, not quite venturing into jammy territory, but not too far off that. Stewed rhubarb, maybe? Finish: long, sweet and mentholated again, with germolene, burning incense yet also spearmint, flowering currants, gauze, iodine, liquorice-root ash. Once more, further sipping means more fruity sweetness, with acidic stewed rhubarb, banana rum and lime drops. The whole is smoky and kipper-y first and foremost, however. Smoked sea shells and that feeling of drinking sugar-cane juice on the seafront, splashed by the sea spray. Excellent. 8/10 (Thanks for the sample, CD)
Caol Ila 34yo 1984/2018 (57.6%, Cadenhead Single Cask 1 x Bourbon Hogshead, 162b, 18/228): nose: this one feels more powerful (and indeed, it is) and a little fresher, as in: fresh water. It has turf, fresh peat and freshly-cut grass, still juicy in the lawn mower's grass box. Soon, it is cut grass left out on a heap, on a sunny day, tomato plants in a green house, and then cooked vegetables storm the scene... and leave as swiftly as they appeared. Mild smoke settles, with bonfires on marshlands, or, more poetically, a camp fire by a riverbed -- earthy, muddy and smoky, vaguely medicinal, with carbolic soap and Iso-Betadine. The whole still allows some fruit to come through, though: cranberry jam, stewing apricot jam, caramelising in the cauldron. Later on, the nose seems to take on a more farm-y cloak, with muddy farm paths in the sun. Mouth: the attack is soft and fruity, though the strength quickly grows to reach quite an intensity. Fruit-tree embers, burning cherry-tree logs, charred cranberry jam, smoked berries. The texture is that of melted butter, mellow and unctuous, and the fruity aspect is a welcome surprise. Rest assured it is totally cooked and stewed fruits, with baked apple and poached pear joining the various compotes listed above. The second sip is sweeter -- imagine all the above coated in Golden Syrup. The heat is quite obvious, with red-chilli powder reminding one that the ABV is in the high fifties. Finish: immense, wide, the sort of finishes that call for silence and contemplation. Salty, ashy, smoky, fruity, it has, in no particular order, incense ash, smoked fruit tea, cut nectarine, spearmint, gorse bushes, burning cassia bark, a dollop of strawberry-chocolate butter (make that melted, strawberry-paste-filled milk chocolate), smoked hibiscus infusion, pineapple drops, crystallised kiwi slices, soaked sultanas, aniseed and mixed peel. This is amazeboulanger. I am tempted to go for top score, but will contain myself for today. 9/10 (Thanks for the sample, Gaija)Class acts!
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