Description

TASTING NOTE
Appearance : bright gold.
Nose : distinguished, subtle. The particularly exotic first nose (passion fruit, pineapple) boasts impressive freshness. On the second nose, a delicate and oily peat brings lots of smoothness to the aroma palette, which gradually becomes more animal (bacon), ashy and at the same time deliciously vanilla and herbaceous (sage, verbena). Allowed to breathe, candied citrus fruit (lemon, grapefruit) and white fruit (pear, plum) release a tangy and syrupy juice into the air.
Palate : rich, unctuous. The vanilla, lemony and vegetal (hay, straw) attack continues on perfectly from the nose. The divinely chocolatey, liquorice and earthy mid-palate is also salty and marine (kelp, shellfish). With huge finesse, the end of the palate develops superbly complex honeyed (acacia, lavender) and floral (honeysuckle, hyacinth) registers.
Overall : long, creamy. The remarkably fresh start of the finish focuses on a now-oily peat rich in silt, sea spray and mineral salts. The very typically Caol Ila end of the finish is at once ashy, herbaceous, lemony and vanilla. These notes are accompanied by strong spices (pepper, curry, clove) and dark chocolate. The rich retro-nasal olfaction (coffee Žclair, chocolate cake) is also characterized by bay leaf and thyme flavours. The empty glass is unmistakably peaty, salty, medicinal (ointment) and malty.