Batch 200

Unusually for Caol Ila, this starts with a distinctly medicinal character (iodine, TCP) before there’s some wet Japanese denim and then seaweed, before it drifts into a more familiar mix of drying crab shell, hot sea-washed pebbles, grass and a light smokiness. With water things take on a more herbal twist, with some green olive, garrigue and an increase of the smoke.

Lighter than you might expect from the nose; fresh, crisp and quite breezy. Some classic smoky bacon (Frazzles) to start with before the light oiliness comes forward with hints of squid ink. Some slight heat. Water adds in more oiliness and tinned pear. It gives the impression of being very calm and quiet, until the whisky hits the back of the mouth and then rebounds to ignite the smoke once again.

Lightly minty. Smoked salt.

Layered, long and energising.

Getting down On the Beach. Take it away Neil.

Things start with fresh, light cereal accents (Rice Krispies?), a tiny touch of scented soap and the aroma of a ripe barley field after rain. It then becomes greener: spruce, grass, herbs and green beans. Water brings out more estery fruits, green apple, unripe pear and bitter melon.

When neat it’s pretty hot, with a fizzing quality (sherbet lemon) and then marzipan, before you pick out a little floral note, some acidity and the green notes seen on the nose (green fennel seed now). As with the nose, things change significantly when water is added, becoming sweeter with a mix of fondant fancies and raspberry ripple ice cream. Creamy notes.

Jangling and acidic when neat, vanilla slice when diluted.

Two whiskies for the price of one. There’s a sense that things are still coming together. Never fully relaxed.

This Mama Too Tight.

This is a massive fruit bomb from the off. Cherry brandy, creme de mȗres, damson jam, some blueberry and a mix of sweet raisins and a Moscatel-like fragrance. Things continue with variations on this hugely vinous richness, getting ever denser. Water allows it to show its mature qualities and while the cooked fruits are always present, there’s now a touch of oak and depth.

Fruit-forward, luscious and overripe (well, what did you expect?) but that mature note is now more obvious alongside the raisins and plum pudding. The tannins are velvety. Should you desire a little more grip and solidity, then add a little water.

Sweet dark fruits. Full-on Pedro Ximénez.

A big, sweet, bouncy crowd-pleaser. Really, is there anything wrong with that?

For those who like Rich Food and Easy Living.

An immediate hit of orange pith and zest, hot tiles, lemon drizzle cake and even a hint of pineapple before you pick out turmeric, cider vinegar and then, as things dry, oatcake and oak, and lemon barley water. When diluted there’s a certain delicacy on show, with a little charred element.

A clean, cooling start; all vanilla and chocolate pudding, then the citrus peels off along with a little toffee and the tiniest touch of smoke. All the action is in the buttery sweet mid-palate. Water pulls out a little more smoke and a hint of strawberry jam. It then starts to thicken and more spice is added into that central sweetness.

Cinnamon, aniseed and ginger, then a drying element.

A perfectly nice, pleasant, medium-bodied, sweet whisky. Is it Highland Park? Maybe these days it is.

Twisted tales at bedtime.

Rich and mature: a mix of Madeira cake, tiramisu, sultanas, brown butter and Seville orange/marmalade before a savoury element starts to develop. Elegantly bridges the gap between the fresh, the fruity (black banana) and the mature. With water it becomes more dessert-like: tutti frutti, clotted cream ice cream, cacao, honey and, finally, that savoury quality.

Rounded with a silky feel and integrated smoke, and a distinctly roasted, spicy quality. There’s a chewiness to the mid-palate along with the release of some berry fruits, all balanced by light tannins. Keep the water on the side. In time you get cigar ash, cedar, rich mature fruits and some beeswax.

Thick and slightly honeyed, with a little smoke.

Long and elegant. Lingering, rounded and spicy.

Great spirit, great cask and time: That’s How Things Get Done.

Starts promisingly with thick, heavy treacle toffee, chocolate digestives and a gentian-like back note. There’s a muscularity to it. When water is added heavy oils come through, though the richness of the cask seems to manage to balance things, adding in liquorice, treacle scones and smoked ham.

Now you get barbecued meat and hot fat rising from a greasy skillet mixed with dried fruit, sweet chestnut and charred oak. The oils are oozing out by the middle of the palate. Water shows it to be a little feinty.

Meaty; oily.

It’s Ledaig, and though the oak mellows things out it remains big, oily, meaty and smoky, which some folk love.

A Nighthawk heading in the vague direction of home with a late night kebab, using parking meters as walking sticks.