05/03/2024 Caol Ila

Caol Ila 29yo 1984/2013 (55.5%, Cadenhead Small Batch, Bourbon Hogsheads, 564b, 13/467): it feels like we had this yesterday, but it was, in fact, a whole three days ago. Strike while the iron is lukewarm, eh? Nose: phwoar! those old Caol Ila... It is refined ash and ash-enrichened soil, and forest floor on a dry day. A moment later, maritime notes arise, fine (volcanic) sand, and smoked whelks and cockles. Mind you, there is a clearer-and-clearer fruitiness too that climbs on top of all that; squashed raspberries, bergamots, apricots, and salted calamansis. That salty fruit is reminiscent of a margarita, yet this is, of course, a lot classier. In the distance, a pile of damp logs is perceptible -- unless it is peat bricks, stacked to air dry. Next up are a drop of ink and smoked nail varnish spilled on fishing nets hung out to dry. The second nose has torched marshmallows, pan-seared peach flesh, and some kind of fresh-water fish. It has something nutty too; something akin to smoked almonds or macadamias. It ends with drinks cabinets (from a smoker's home), made of MDF or whichever indistinct wood, with but a veneer of mahogany. Later on, we find the fake-leather interior of a thirty-year-old car. Mouth: ooft! Inky to an extreme. We are talking ink wells, quills, old parchments, and blotting paper. Speaking of which, this is also pretty desiccating, sucking the moisture from the cheeks. Then, as one starts to salivate to compensate the drought, it is a wave of petrolic flavours, starting with tarry sands, ending with kerosene, ticking off cockles after a black tide, and fishing nets covered in petrol in the interval. The second sip adds earthy chocolate milk, and all sorts of nuts, nutty, earthy, and bitter, at times. It is the milky texture that impresses most, now. It also acquires a fruity sweetness: ash-dusted raspberries, and peaches, served on a white-hot silver plate. Yes, it is quite hot, after all, and not all sips are as silky. In reality, it alternates between rocky-desiccating and silky-milky. Dr. Caol and Mr. Ila. Finish: it feels earthier, here, still petrolic, but to a lesser extent. Scorched earth may be an overstatement, but it is certainly dry earth, and it comes across as overheated too. Retro-nasal olfaction brings back the hydrocarbons loud and clear, with petrol (from the pump, this time, none of that crude oil from earlier), swimming pool (chlorinated water, in other words), and lemon zest mixed with Texas dirt (because the state has deserts and oil, see?) It dies in a whisper of extinguished cigar -- a whisper that could be perceived as a scream, actually; it is very distinctive. The second sip takes the oil and earth, throws squashed raspberries and ground nuts into the mix, and adds a splash of 98-octane petrol and a drop of sea water for fun. A sprinkle of lemon juice completes the picture. Still excellent. 9/10 (Thanks for the dram, OB)