Caol ila 1980 20 Year Old Silver Seal

Caol Ila 14 YO, Cask # LD 6957

Douglas of Drumlanrig is an independent bottler. I thank @Maddie for samples from the reviewed bottle. The reviewed bottle was distilled in September 1996 and bottled in February 2011. I attended a tasting of mostly Douglas Laing products with @Maddie in, I believe, January of 2013. Of the 8 or 10 malts we tasted that night, several 25 to 35 years...

Score 94/100

Caol Ila 14 Year Old 1993 Silver Seal

This Caol Ila from Silver Seal came from a cask that yielded no less than 757 bottles. Surely, that must have been a sherry butt? The color does suggest this. I got this sample from the Festival of Independent Bottlers in Belgium last May. Oh, special nose. Blind, I would call this not Caol Ila, but rather Bunnahabhain. Sure, the ashes and...

Score 84/100

Caol ila 1966 29 Year Old Sherry Cask

Gordon & Macphail is one of the oldest independent bottlers in the world, founded in 1895 by James Gordon and John Alexander Macphail. They hired John Urquhart at the age of 15, who soon became responsible for the whisky branch of the company. In 1915 (due to the retirement and sudden death of the founders) he became senior partner. The...

Score 90/100

Caol ila Cask Strength

This was another taster at The Lark distillery/whisky bar. The nose is peaty, with hints of sweetness and malt. Really meaty and powerful. More complex than it sounds. I would need a few glasses over a few weeks to get to the bottom of the nose. The taste is powerful and warm (as you would expect from a cask strength release. The sweetness...

Score 90/100