-
- Price band
-
£ £ £ £ £
- ABV
- 54.6%
- Production type
- Single malt whisky
- Region
- Islay
- Flavour camp
- Fruity & Spicy
- Nose
Big, buttery, even butterscotchy (is that a word? – Ed) Bruichladdich with daffodils, lemon crème brûlée, with Demerara sugar topping, Silver Shred Marmalade, nougat and a little dry wood on the back, which will balance out these fatter flavours. Despite the strength, water kills this ripe feel so I’d leave alone.
- Palate
Has the distillery’s texture and ripeness, with plump fruits coming through, along with some spiced apple and, strangely, some clove, alongside the dusting of nutmeg. As on the nose, water isn’t overly friendly, adding a chewed grass stalk/green almond edge.
- Finish
Gentle fruits.
- Conclusion
Good strength for this age and a bold example.
- Right place, right time
With a cry of ecstasy, Gwyneth fell off the wagon and onto the dessert trolley.
- Price band
-
£ £ £ £ £
- ABV
- 57.4%
- Production type
- Single malt whisky
- Region
- Islay
- Flavour camp
- Smoky & Peaty
- Nose
Amazing strength for its age and, perhaps unsurprisingly, there’s some heat here, but it’s tempered by deck and linseed oils with light hints of wormwood, horseradish and elegant smoke. A biggie. A little water makes things a lot fruitier – Tooty Frooties in fact – some strawberry, lime and dry grass. Delicious either way.
- Palate
Luxuriously soft start with old Caol Ila's tongue-coating quality. Some sweet potato to start and then the heat hits in the centre, but recedes slightly as the smoke moves into pole position, scented with rosemary and a meaty edge underneath. Water reduces the impact but it remains slippery, yet still spicy and complex.
- Finish
Long and peppery.
- Conclusion
Everything you want from a mature Caol Ila: elegance, balance, character, freshness, integrated smoke and depth. Just great.
- Right place, right time
Oiling a cricket bat on a yacht.
- Price band
-
£ £ £ £ £
- ABV
- 45.6%
- Production type
- Single malt whisky
- Region
- Highland
- Flavour camp
- Fruity & Spicy
- Nose
Immediately grand, with mature elements on show: dried guava and mango, showing a move into rancio along with a (full) cedar wood cigarette case and a nutty, almond-like surround, suggesting some structure. Elegant; all plumped-up satin and velvet cushions.
- Palate
It hides its age well on the nose, but when you taste it you can tell that it is slightly frailer than it lets on. The fruit – and now more honey – remains, however. This elegant lady may be old, but she is not admitting it. While more structured, it’s all rather gorgeous. Leave water well away.
- Finish
Gentle, fading and lightly fruited.
- Conclusion
A gorgeous, old, but still balanced example.
- Right place, right time
Sophia Loren in old age.
- Price band
-
£ £ £ £ £
- ABV
- 52.7%
- Production type
- Single malt whisky
- Region
- Islay
- Flavour camp
- Smoky & Peaty
- Nose
A massive, but gentle start; the sort of nose which draws you in to its depths. Wild, dark berries and integrated smoke, chocolate, concentrated miso, roasting chestnut and then heavily pine-scented Lapsang Souchong. Becomes increasingly resinous and deep. With a drop of water it becomes more medicinal with some sandalwood and roasting coffee beans.
- Palate
As you might expect from such a nose, this is huge, mouth-filling and concentrated, but with immediate sweetness rather than smoke. There’s the merest smear of Germolene in there, then a thick stout character as a burnt, roasted edge comes through alongside heavy pipe smoke. The water adds some crackling flames alongside more maritime edges – After Eights being passed around a beach bonfire.
- Finish
Dry, long, powerful. A bitter note balances the sweetness of the start.
- Conclusion
A box of many treasures. Quite a way to finish the birthday party.
- Right place, right time
Sitting next to a fire pit in a Chinese tea house.
- Price band
-
£ £ £ £ £
- ABV
- 51%
- Production type
- Single malt whisky
- Region
- Islands
- Flavour camp
- Smoky & Peaty
- Nose
Marsala is a big, quite nutty and often slightly singed fortified wine. Here, it’s paired with Ledaig’s classic smokiness, which always brings burning pyres at a racetrack to mind. There’s some figginess, hot oil and then out of nowhere the guilty pleasure of the smell of a spicy kebab with lashings of chilli sauce.
- Palate
Dry smoke. In fact, this is dry all the way, and oily and tarry as well. It does need water to kill the heat, which brings out a more feral quality, but it then drifts ever deeper into feintiness.
- Finish
Smoky.
- Conclusion
Maybe this is for petrol heads (of which I am not one).
- Right place, right time
Jeremy Clarkson, stonewashed jeans stained by kebab sauce, picks a fight at a speedway meet.
- Price band
-
£ £ £ £ £
- ABV
- 54.4%
- Production type
- Single malt whisky
- Region
- Islands
- Flavour camp
- Rich & Round
- Nose
Big, oaky and malty. There’s bran flakes, raisin, wet earth then some hazelnut and sweet walnut. As it opens, so a more robust, autumnal character comes through, alongside light farmyard notes, welly boots and mashed neeps. Gets bigger, funkier, more like amontillado Sherry – and simply better – when water is added.
- Palate
Oilier than the nose. Hot campfire skillet, dense toffee sweetness that moves into a not unpleasant, treacle-like bitterness. Nutty. Again, a vast improvement with water where there’s sweet dried fruits and a better balance.
- Finish
Slightly astringent with a creep of oils.
- Conclusion
Add water and a different beast emerges.
- Right place, right time
An outdoor Burns supper.
Dave Broom is headed for the islands this week, where he finds everything from greasers to refined ladies, tea-drinking Chinese sages and an unfortunate encounter with Jeremy Clarkson. Starting at Bruichladdich with a big, buttery, ‘butterscotchy’ whisky, he then progresses to a 36-year-old Caol Ila before making a brief stop at Deanston on the mainland to sample the new 40-year-old release. Then it’s back over to Islay to round off the birthday celebrations for Lagavulin with the distillery’s charitable 1991 bottling. A 19-year-old Ledaig finished in Marsala wine casks follows – one for the ‘petrol heads’ – before a 21-year-old Tobermory brings Broom’s island expedition to a close.