Origin: Isle of Islay (Scotland)
Type: Single Malt Scotch Whisky
Strength: 54.5%ABV
Ageing casks: Finished in ex-Ruby Port
Chillfiltered: No
Added coloring: No
Owner: Diageo
Average price: € 200.00
Official website: www.malts.com
Vote: 83/100
Another piece of the bottlings made for the annual festival held on Islay between May and June, with a cask strength Caol Ila that has seen the last three months of its thirteen years of ageing spent in casks which contained Ruby Port: a fairly short time but one that seems to have left a definite mark on the colour.
1,404 bottles produced at a price out of this world.
Tasting Notes
The nose is blackberry jam stretched with seawater and blood orange juice next to a beach bonfire, with metallic and mineral incursions along the length. Going deeper, the fruity part opens up, always declining on the acidity of red fruits with some incursions of red apple and pink grapefruit, associated with apricot jam, brine and a peat suspended between mould and slight smokiness. Delicate.
In the mouth, it has a good creaminess that enhances the quality of the jammy fruit, in which oranges and blackberries prevail, with the lively contribution of black pepper and especially plenty of ginger. The saline contribution is ample, and with the bright metallic and mineral part it quickly dries out the tongue and palate, leaving remnants of red fruit chocolate and pistachios to accompany the peat towards the conquest of a more decisive smoke.
The finish is quite long and dry, with mineral, ginger, red fruits, citrus, burnt wood and salty notes.
Not a monster of complexity or depth, easy to drink but without any particular personality or excellence: it flows away and you have forgotten about it shortly afterwards. Not much for a special edition, especially at that price.