Tag: Caol Ila

Caol Ila 25 year old

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Caol Ila 25 year old review

Distillery: Caol Ila
Region: Islay
Age: 25 years old
abv: 43%

Caol Ila 25 year old was introduced in 2010, after Diageo had piloted cask strength versions a few years earlier. Nowadays this Caol Ila is bottled at 43% abv. Although the better part of this whisky has spent a quarter century in bourbon barrels, there’s also a few ex-sherry casks thrown into the mix. As a member of Caol Ila’s core range, this 25 year old is now the oldest regular offering from this oft-overlooked Islay distillery.

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Caol Ila Moch

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Caol Ila Moch 01Distillery: Caol Ila
Region: Islay
Age: No age statement
abv: 43%

Gaelic for ‘dawn’, Moch is supposedly Caol Ila’s first ever whisky selected purely on the basis of taste, rather than age, bottling strength or cask type. Arguably this is just marketing fluff, since Caol Ila’s master distiller will have evaluated the taste of each of the distillery’s whiskies prior to bottling. Even so, there’s no denying that Caol Ila Moch is a very tasty dram. It provides a bit of a lighter version of Caol Ila, without compromising on flavour and complexity. The result is a dram that juggles a softer side with the bold profile we’ve come to expect from Caol Ila. Enjoy the balance of this elegant Islay whisky!

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Islay Tasting

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islay-tasting-01

For a long time now I had been intending to organise a tasting that includes each of Islay’s eight distilleries, and tonight the time had finally come. Known for its distinctively peaty, smoky whiskies, the island of Islay is often considered a whisky region in its own right. This is no wonder, as the island lives and breathes whisky, providing the lifeblood for a population of just over 3000 people. Peat bogs are ubiquitous, the salty sea breeze can be felt anywhere and the sight of a distillery’s chimney is never far away.

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