Origin: Islay (Scotland)
Type: Single Malt Scotch Whisky
Strength: 51.2%ABV
Ageing cask: Ex-Premier Cru Bordeaux barrique finish
Chillfiltered: No
Added coloring: No
Owner: Alistair Walker Whisky Company
Average price: € 130.00
Official website: www.alistairwalkerwhisky.com
After a while, Alistair Walker’s Infrequent Flyers returns to the blog with a distillery not exactly ‘infrequent’ on these pages, Caol Ila, but today offered in a single cask version with a finish in ex-Bordeaux wine. Distilled in 2008, bottled in 2023 at 51.2%ABV in 239 bottles still available.
Tasting Notes
The colour is amber.
The first impression on the nose is not so much the acrid cigarette smoke, which is less intense than expected, but rather the aroma of yoghurt plum cake, followed by vanilla and zabaglione, which add a creamy dimension enriched by the aroma of pastry citrus. This shifts the olfactory focus to the citrus side, with lemon, grapefruit, orange blossom and ginger. Cloves and sage citriodora (also known as lemon sage) complete a truly distinctive and precious range.
On the palate, the pungent smoke spreads like a carpet where ginger, pepper, orange yoghurt and almonds play, cheerful and impertinent like little pestos. Apricot, apricot yoghurt, peach and orange peel contribute generously to the overall enjoyment, while in the usual long Caol Ila finish we find pepper, lemon, a little smoke and apricot, with no hint of alcohol.
Infrequent Flyers release no. 126 confirms that it is an impossible task to find a Caol Ila that is not good, but above all that a perfectly calibrated use of ex-wine casks (less reckless than we might have expected from a master of re-racking such as Alistair Walker) can produce welcome surprises. The distillery’s signature is unmistakable and the aromatic ensemble, so original, is never for a moment out of balance.
Vote: 87/100
Reviews of Infrequent Flyers whisky
This review is dedicated to Francesca who always reminds me where it all began