2009 Single Malts of Scotland Caol Ila 11 Year Old Cask Strength Single Malt Scotch Whisky (700ml)

More and more cask strength Caol Ilas are landing on our shelves - and that's a good thing as the distillate is invariably very good to great. As Serge Valentin of whiskyfun.com notes, "Folks keep saying that it's the most industrial of all Islay distilleries, but first the location is tremendous, and second, I cannot even remember when I last tried a relatively 'mediocre' Caol Ila. It would even take a little wine from time to time, thanks to a fresher, cleaner, less extreme peaty profile." This outturn of 300 bottles was from a single hogshead (No.317838) at 58.8%. Non chill filtered.

Other reviews... Colour: white wine. Nose: this one's pretty austere and rather all on medicinal notes, iodine, mercurochrome, gauze, bandages, then tons of chalk, limestone, plaster… A touch of olive and gherkin in the background. Not a bad sign… With water: gets even ueber-chalky. Chalk vodka? Would you say there is a market? Mouth (neat): very tight, salty and lemony, with hints of white cherries and almonds. Extremely pure, it seems… With water: boy does it swim well! Superb, pristine, katana-y ashes, lemon, chalk and seawater. This one does not cut you into halves, it cuts you into quarters, Kill-Bill-style. Finish: long and perfect, pure, chiselled and extremely vertical. Pretty mezcaly, in fact. Comments: this kind of stuff is why we're into whisky. 90 points - whiskyfun.com