Caol Ila – A Captain of Industry – SMWS 53.159

Here’s something… funny about Canada. It’s big. Like, really big.[1]  

So when I found out that the Scotch Malt Whisky Society was in Canada, I was super stoked. I mean, for a (comparatively) low amount of money, I could be buying IB bottles and going to tastings. And then finding out that there is no store in Ontario, and that the closest store was a 3 hour flight (or a 4 day drive) away was… well, disheartening.

So when I walked into another hipster bar (oh god, I’m a flannel shirt and black rimmed glasses away from saying “I liked it before it was cool”) and saw they had some bottles of SMWS, I totally geeked out. I was finally going to try some.

Up first we have A Captain of Industry – SMWS 53.159. 53 is Caol Ila, though one smell gave away this was an Islay.

Price: No longer available in Canada

Region: Islay

Abv: 57%

Age: 16 years

Date Distilled: August 1995

Outrun: 287 bottles

Cask Type: Refill hogshead

Colour: White with a little bit of yellow and green

Nose: Peat, iodine, lemon, white chocolate, smoked meat, light cheap mustard, pepper, salami

Wow. This is… oh god, so peppery, and meaty, and that sweetness and saltiness, and the perfect amount of everything.

Taste: lemon, smoke, sea air, beaches, burn, salami, medicinal, cinnamon, cocoa, bitter melon

There’s everything great about Christmas and the Beach all wrapped up into one here. Just the right amount of bitterness for me as well, makes me want to order some more.

Finish: Chocolate, nutmeg, iodine, double smoked boar bacon, peat

Long, chocolatey, and smokey finish. Not as intense as some Old Malt Cask, but oh god that bacon taste is divine. Like, have a cigar, smack out a seagull, and eat a cookie divine.

Conclusion: This here’s the tits. Seriously tasty dram, has a really dirty, almost industrial flavour to it, yet I found the taste to have some clean spots just to relax your tastebuds a little. I wanted a tiny bit more on the finish, which is a nit pick just to allow my score. Honestly, pick this up if you can find it.

88/100

Scotch review #77, Islay review #25, Whisky Network review #102

1001 Whiskies to taste before you die review #57

101 Whiskies to try before you die review #17