Caol Ila 12 - Review
Age: 12 years
Barrel type: Ex-bourbon
Region: Islay
ABV: 43%
Price: $55
Additional details: Chill-filtered, color added
Without realizing it, you may have been drinking Caol Ila for years. It is one of the main components of Johnnie Walker's best-selling blends, including Black, Double Black, and Green Label. If you've ever enjoyed one of those blended scotches, you've enjoyed Caol Ila. Much smaller quantities of Caol Ila get released as a 12-year single malt, where the distillery gets a chance to shine on its own.
Caol Ila is a classic Islay scotch, with lots of the characteristics that typify that island's unique and wonderful whiskies, although it's less famous than its close cousin Lagavulin (the two are owned by the same company, Diageo, and distill using a lot of the same peated malt from Port Ellen). There are some exceptional pieces online about Caol Ila's distilling process, particularly in contrast with Lagavulin, and I highly recommend reading this one. Without further ado, let's get to the tasting!
Appearance: Caol Ila comes in an attractive, classically styled scotch bottle with an olive hue. The label and the box have an oddly repetitive description of the distillery on both front and back, each time with slight variations. The front of the bottle is representative (to be clear, the random italics are part of the label itself): "Out of sight, in a remote cove near Port Askaig lies Caol Ila, hidden gem among Islay's distilleries since 1846. Not easy to find, Caol Ila's secret malt is nonetheless highly prized among devotees of the Islay style." The box's decoration and style feel like a callback to the 1970s or 1980s. A bit ugly, but in a vintage way.
The whisky itself is has a chardonnay color to it, slightly deeper in color than Ardbeg 10, although much lighter than Lagavulin 16.
Nose: There's smoke here, of course, but not as much as I detect in Ardbeg 10, Laphroaig 10, or even Lagavulin 16, which supposedly starts with the same peated malt. The smoke leans to the ashier/cigarette side of the equation, without the savory meatiness or earthy quality of its three southern rivals. The nose is very sweet underneath the peat, which recalls to mind vanilla-frosted lemon pound cake. The sweetness outlasts the smoke; the longer I nose it, the more that saccharine motif predominates. Strange as it may sound, Caol Ila is more of a dessert scotch.
Palate: The palate also opens with some citrus sweetness coating the tongue. The middle notes become herbal or slightly grassy, which is where the lighter touch of the peat reveals itself. The smoke introduces itself after a second or two and rounds out a pleasing, evolving palate. Its texture is quite oily, and combined with the smoke, I can see why some people evoke the image of drinking gasoline -- some as an expression of their taste, some as an expression of their distaste, for this dram.
Finish: The sweet lemon vacates the room as if it just heard "Closing Time" on the radio. In its wake, the smoke pulls the curtain as the predominant flavor on the finish, although unfortunately it's a slightly too ashy smoke relative to my ideal. There's also a slight bitterness at the finish, almost like arugula. The first few sips finished a little hot, but it mellowed to a pleasant level in subsequent pours.
Value for Money and Final Impressions: Caol Ila's made to be a blending scotch, and to some extent, that shows in its single malt product. The smoke is slightly one-note and ashy, kind of like hearing a bass player who's left a band to become a solo act. The sweet and bright citrus note is a fun, light touch. The combination of the two make this an ideal scotch to accompany an after-dinner cigar on a warm summer night, but I'd be hard pressed to reach for this bottle over Ardbeg 10 or Laphroaig 10 (both priced at around the same $50-55 point). The extra two years of aging do not seem to have added much more complexity, which is the strong suit of Lagavulin 16 (albeit at a significantly higher price point in the U.S.). Although it does not necessarily outshine its fellow Islay products, Caol Ila 12's a pleasurable whiskey to try, particularly for those who want a peek behind the Johnnie Walker facade or who want to taste a different expression of the Islay style.
Rating: B