Caol Ila Unpeated Style 8 Years Old 2006 59,8% NV

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Serge Valentin (83)

A much awaited official non-peaty Caol Ila, i.e ‘Highlands Caol Ila’ as the blenders call it. ‘Unpeated Style’ may mean that this one isn’t completely unpeated – let’s see… Colour: straw. Nose: spirity and very ‘alcoholic’ at first nosing, not unlike raw medicinal alcohol but the aromas are soon to come through. First both fresh and overripe apples, then a little milk chocolate, toasted bread and cappuccino, then a pleasant oakiness, then something grassy and faintly peaty (just touches, really), then lots of bourbon-style vanilla. It gets finally quite fruitier (gooseberries and green bananas, plantain) and frankly grassy, with whiffs of violets. Interesting to say the least. Mouth: very sweet, powerful but not pungent, starting on all kinds of lemon and orange sweets as well as a little tea and something rather ‘nervous’ (icing sugar, fructose). Goes on with notes of kiwi, fresh pineapple, angelica… Extremely ‘natural’, with little particular ‘markers’ and little wood (but I only had Highlands Caol Ila as a newmake before). Not quite sure one can talk about a particular style here, except that it’s very ‘clean’, very ‘simply fruity’ and very easy to drink with a little water. No peat that I can get on the palate – or maybe it’s this faint grassiness? Medium long finish on citrus fruits again, pineapples and maybe camomile and hints of marzipan. In short, the nose was a little more interesting than the palate, the whole being a rather simple but certainly not unpleasant malt – quite on the contrary. I hope we’ll be able to taste a much older ‘Unpeated Style’ Caol Ila one day.

BOW (85)