Origin: Isle of Islay (Scotland)
Type: Single Malt Scotch Whisky
Strength: 58.1%ABV
Ageing cask: Ex-Sherry butt refill
Chillfiltered: No
Added colouring: No
Owner: Whisky Facile
Price: € 110,00 on Whisky Facile
Official website: Whisky Facile
Vote: 90/100
Another bottling created for the tenth anniversary of what is probably the best known whisky blog in Italy, which after the Bunnabahain of the first release returns to Islay, with a young (but not too young) Caol Ila unusually aged in ex-Sherry butt.
As they themselves say in their presentation, the association between the mythological mermaid and the distillery is easy (d’oh) in the Gaelic meaning of the distillery’s name, which is “the sound of Islay”.
So let’s hear if the notes of this cask strength from a single cask will captivate like the song of Aquaman’s cousins…
Tasting notes
The intensity of the colour in the glass is just a preview of what the nose will achieve, almost chewy aromas of dirty coastal peat, like the keel of an old fishing boat that smells of ocean, oil, mussels and fish. The fruit is declined in red, with touches of licorice, dark chocolate, dates with almonds, and a note of worn leather emerges, like a jacket worn for a long time on the bow of that boat. Long, very long. And dirty.
The taste is less radical but still nice and bold, another intense peat softened by fruit, always in the warm spectrum, loaded with spices (paprika, ginger) with a hint of blood orange, more worn leather and meaty touches, like a barbecue, that go hand in hand with the coastal scents creating a rich compote veined with rhubarb, tamarind and a mineral dryness in the background.
The finish is long, dry, of red fruits (black cherry and blueberry), leather, glowing embers, caramelised popcorn and lots of salt.
An overcharged whisky, extreme, overflowing especially on the nose, which finds an apt simile in the figure of the sirens: it attracts, involves and overwhelms, only to leave you exhausted on the shoreline with your hands fumbling for more.