59,9°
Distillery : Caol Ila - Islay
Bourbon Hogshead
Independent Bottling
By Signatory Vintage
Limited Edition
Single Cask
Bottled in 2001
Unchillfiltered, Uncoloured, Cask Strength
Peated around 35 ppm
Signatory Vintage launched this range at the very beginning of the
century, around 2001. It must be an ancestor of the Cask
Strength Collection which was launched a few years later, in 2004. The
idea was to market the bottlings as they are, without reduction, nor
addition of colouring or chill filtration. At the time, it was rather
new. The last Straight from the Cask bottlings date from 2016. These are
50 cl bottles, there were only about forty of them, which is very few
compared to the Cask Strength Collection which totals over 2000 gems today.
Here we have a 25-year-old Caol Ila, aged in a Bourbon Hogshead,
distilled on September 29, 1976 and bottled on December 14, 2001. 423 bottles were on sale.
Let's Taste It :
Very little iodized nose and even less mineral, very smooth in fact, a
little shy, semi-salted buttered bread, speculoos cream, waxy, with the
patina that makes very old whiskies. Wood varnish, chocolate milk,
vergeoise. I barely smell the peat. The smoke is evanescent. On the
palate, very oily texture, like melting caramel, it's saltier, more
maritime, but it stays sweet, marrons glacés, white
chocolate, fluted, white grapes. Fudge, green apple, banana, soft spices. Beautiful, powerful and long finish, where the exotic fruits are
finally felt, mango, passion fruit, papaya. Vegetal touches.
In Short,
Very few traces of Caol lla's hallmarks, hardly any iodine, peat or cold tobacco. The nose is a little shy, but typical of these old whiskies, full of patina and wax. I admit I was a little disappointed at first, but the palate and finish are superb. It's out of stock everywhere of course, so don't even try looking.
Score : 90
To Be Listened While Sipping :
Peter Frampton - Do You Feel Like We Do
No comments:
Post a Comment