Minutia: Distilled at Caol Ila and matured for 30 years before bottling in 2015. Reviewed blind, neat in an opaque glencairn.
Color: Amber; 0.7.
Nose: Ashy, salty smoke. Leather. A sense that there are fruit notes to be coaxed out; you get whatever you might call a “nasal glimpse.” Some fruit comes in better with a bit of time, and a sweet icing note develops as well.
Taste: Rich and sweet with spices and pepper. Honey.
Finish: Earthy and smoky. Maltiness comes in, roasted in nature. Long.
Guess: Ledaig Rioja? Triple Wood?
This one stings a bit as I was thinking Caol Ila, but didn’t think there were any left. Oh well, I made my guesses based on the proof seeming lower than a single cask would be. This reminds me of the Bowmore 25 I had in a prior Advent calendar, unfortunately not in a good way. I’m not talking about quality, just the fact that it was a blind review that I think worked against it a bit. I gave it a score based on what seemed like a lighter quality mistaking that lightness for a weaker or watered down spirit rather than spirit tamed with significant time in a cask. After the reveal I revisited the dram and a couple other notes had appearing before then and an overall more positive impression knowing the age and consequent delicacy. I did revise my score based on additional notes with time in the glass, but refrained from revising based on subjective elements. That said, I still regard it a bit more highly than the given score. I’m going to reconsider keeping samples in my blind review pool that may be underserved without additional context, but this year’s will be unaffected.
Score: 82
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