Description

Tasting Notes

Colour : Orangey copper.

Nose : Refined, distinguished. On the first nose, sublime aromas of mango, apricot, bitter orange, toffee and heady florals (hyacinth, lavender) highlight the aroma palette’s oxidative temperament. Allowed to breathe, it becomes more medicinal (elastoplast, arnica), rooty (ginger, dandelion), vegetal (tobacco) and herbaceous (cut hay). Gradually, a generous peat arrives at the front of the stage.

Palate : Lively and subtle. Continuing on perfectly from the nose, the attack is at once delicately peaty, floral (iris, hyacinth) and honeyed (lime blossom, heather). The more medicinal and iodine (tincture) mid-palate reveals animal (Grisons beef) and rustic (dandelion, clover) flavours. The end of the palate then sees peat definitively gain the upper hand.

Finish : Long, rich. Continuing on in the same vein as the palate, the start of the finish is intensely peaty and smoky, with tarry, oily, chocolatey and spicy (ginger, cinnamon) flavours pairing together perfectly. The retro-nasal olfaction is at once peaty, rooty, fruity (orange, guava) and salty. The aromatic plants (chervil, lovage) that literally surge from the empty glass reinforce the culinary style of this particularly unique Caol Ila.