.caol ila - feis ile 2012

60,4% abv, €161, single malt, single cask, cask strength

Nose: immediately I want to turn on the barbecue: meat, peat smoke, salty bacon and sweet barbecue sauce (“Brown Sauce”) welcome you followed by grains and biscuits, and sweet notes from caramel and fudge and a hint of mint.
Palate: she starts with a mouthful of fruit, mainly berries and cherries. This mixes in with the later arriving barbecue smoke and very sweet fruit notes. Somewhat late the spicy white peppers kick in, to dissolve into a sweet, gentle and creamy liquid.
Finish: long, smoky, white pepper spiciness, sweet fruit bowl, raisins, dry and ash like.
Mark: +++++

Conclusion: I might have considered buying this when I was on Islay in 2012 and could have had a taste before the purchase, something that is not possible at both Diageo distilleries on the island. It was quite expensive for a whisky of this age – albeit a single cask at cask strength, and I have seen much better.

More info: distilled on15/01/2001 - bottled in 2012 into ex-Sherry butt #300897

Tasted at the distillery manager’s tour at the Lagavulin distillery, May 2013