SMWS Caol Ila 11 2007 Side by Side, 53.297 "Stampede of peat" & 53.302 "Holy sweet smoke!"

I wanted to do something special for the 200th whisky I reviewed and these two were something I had really been looking forward to trying side by side since I got them. These are two Caol Ilas from the SMWS that were distilled on the same date and have the same age statement. SMWS tragically does not give the bottling date like some other IBs so I don’t know that they spent quite the same amount of time in their respective casks, but they will be within a year of each other. These sister casks are both the same type and the casks were so similar that the difference in bottle outturn is just 1. The names given suggest wildly different flavors (within a specific flavor profile) and it’s very exciting to see just how different two casks can be.

Caol Ila 11, 2007 Vintage, Scotch Malt Whisky Society 53.297, Islay Single Malt, 58% ABV

Minutia: Distilled on September 24, 2007 and matured for 11 years in refill ex-Bourbon hogshead, bottled at cask strength yielding 263 bottles. Part of their Peated flavor profile and named “Stampede of peat”. Enjoyed neat in a glencairn side by side with its sister cask 53.302.

Color: Pale gold, 0.3.

Nose: Ashy smoke, a bit maritime, musty berry parfait. With water, sweeter.

Taste: Herbal, vegetal smoke, sweet wood and spice. With water, shift toward the woody side.

Finish: Hot, dry, very earthy smoke. Long. With water, less hot but less smoky and earthy.

My initial impression was that this was not a stampede of peat, and the SMWS must have hired the guy who named Peat Monster to name this one. But considering my notes, and how the smoke is present throughout but different, I can see that being considered a stampede of sorts. A pretty good dram, if a bit hot.

Score: 90

Musical Evocation: Powerwolf – “Incense & Iron”

Caol Ila 11 2007, Scotch Malt Whisky Society 53.302, Islay Single Malt, 59.9% ABV

Minutia: Distilled on September 24, 2007 and matured for 11 years in refill ex-Bourbon hogshead, bottled at cask strength yielding 262 bottles. Part of their Peated flavor profile and named “Holy sweet smoke!”. Enjoyed neat in a glencairn side by side with its sister cask 53.297.

Color: Pale gold, 0.3.

Nose: Seaside barbecue of the catch of the day, smoky honey. With water, mostly medicinal.

Taste: Very smoky smoked seafood, hot and spicy. With water, creamy, much less heat.

Finish: Sweet for a flash (in a big way but ever so brief), then dry and woody. Long. With water, same but more tame.

This leans far more to smoke than sweet, but that hint of honey and whatever burst on the opening of the finish certainly hint at that. Water hurts the nose and is roughly neutral for the finish, but I really like the creamy quality it gives the taste. Bumped it up a couple points.

Score: 87

Musical Evocation: Galneryus – “Requiem”

Very happy I finally got to these bottles. They’re certainly not the same, but they are similar. The difference is greater than I’d expect from something like batch variation, and these came from the same distillation run and were aged in pretty much the same cask, so that’s neat to see. I have plans to do the same with some Ardmores for 225 and for 250 a big flight of 5 Bunnahabhains all from the same date (though different cask types for those) and I’m really looking forward to it.