Origin: Islay (Scotland)
Type: Single Malt Scotch Whisky
Strength: 56.7%ABV
Ageing cask: Ex-Sherry 1st fill
Chillfiltered: No
Additional colouring: No
Property: Speymalt Whisky Distributors Ltd.
Average price: € 300.00
Official Website: www.gordonandmacphail.com
Gordon & Macphail’s Connoiseurs Choice line always offers important bottlings from a single cask, in this case the 12879 from the Ileach Caol Ila, a first-fill sherry butt that in 25 years has produced 532 bottles as of March 2024.
After Cadenhead’s 30yo, it’s the oldest Caol Ila I’ve tried: in that case it was an ex-bourbon cask, let’s see how such a long maturation worked with an ex-sherry.
Tasting Notes
So much decadence in this nose! As dark as the colour in the glass, with an abundance of ripe fruit including dates, plums, blackberries and cherries, with equally dark citrus fruits (chinotto, tamarind, blood orange) between candied and compote, and the rough and spicy spices of black pepper, ginger, nutmeg and cinnamon. Molasses and chestnut honey provide the framework, with a structured background of coffee, leather, aged tobacco, earl grey tea forgotten in infusion and a slight layer of mould, between damp wood and loam, evoking the atmosphere of a dunnage. Finally, the peat, a sigh among the aromas, with very little smoke (one really struggles to perceive it except at length) and lots of iodine. An opulent, full-bodied symphony of aristocratic, baroque elegance, in which the alcohol strength has forgotten to participate.
Opulence that returns in the drink, with an almost sticky viscosity, where all the fruit of the nose is rediscovered, pushed by a greater incisiveness of the spices, moving towards (very) aged balsamic vinegar and an idea of sweetness between panforte and chestnut cake. Corollary of coffee, muscovado, salted caramel, tobacco that slips into the lit cigar leading towards the smoke part, more lively here than on the nose, where the iodine and saline notes of the coast are found, together with the musty wood part. Balsamic notes along the length, between menthol and eucalyptus, alcohol still largely absent.
Long finish but less than one would expect, of dark fruit, molasses, brown sugar, mild spices, salt, with smoke and a growing and persistent balsamic note.
A nice pampering for those who love sherry ageing, which enhances and enriches the distillate by reaching the point of excess without ever crossing it. The finish is perhaps a little off-key, but still elegant and incisive.
Vote: 90/100