Caol Ila 10 Dun Bheagan

I wish I didn’t have my allergies and food issues.

After a great lunch, my friends order an espresso. They enjoy that kick up of caffeine, and rocket into that earthy, tasty, bitter treat. Due to my anxiety I have to avoid almost all caffeine, so I pass.

Then dessert is offered, and they have these custardy, wonderful Creme brulee, something with nuts, and a chocolate tart. Two I can’t have because allergies.

My body, ladies and gentleman, is a template that rivals no other.

That was sarcasm.

Anyway so I pass on dessert, and go for Caol Ila 10 Dun Bheagan, at first because it’s suppose to be cask strength.

Spoiler Alert: That was a typo. No worries, it happens. I mean, there’s two Caol Ila 10 out there, and they can get mixed up.

So this is an IB Caol Ila from Dun Bheagan. Should be fun. Really young Islays are my thing.

That may have made me sound like a Pedo. Let’s just get on with the review, shall we?

Price: N/A at the LCBO

Region: Islay

Cask Number: 309954, 309956/58, & 309960

No. of Bottles: 2437

Wood Type: Hogshead

Abv: 43%

Colour: 2.5Y 9/3

Nose: Cocoa, cream, peat, lemon, sea air, pear

So at the time, I thought this was pretty subdued for a cask strength. That said, it was still a young Islay. It’s still brash, big peat, and nice. Reminds me of the 12 year. Maybe more sea air in this one.

Though it’s not Laphroaig level of Sea Air. Let’s not go crazy and fuck Poseidon now.

Taste: Radish, peat, potato, leak, brown butter, peppered bacon

Earthy. Very earthy at first. An earth bomb, if you will. I was expecting Will Smith to pop out any moment and say “Welcome to Urf” to me, that’s how much earth there was.

Finish: Cream, a whole shit tonne and maybe some extra helpings of smoke, peat, caramel, blueberry, pepper

Want smoke? Cause we got smoke! Come on down to Dun Bheagan’s Caol Ila blow out! We got high smoke, low smoke, tons of smoke, bowl smoke, and all your smoke needs! Need a smoked pig? Cause we got the Smoke! We’ll smoke you out or our name isn’t Dun Bheagan!

So yeah. It’s smokey.

Conclusion: So the score for this one comes down to the question: Is this much different than Caol Ila 12. And the answer is: Yes. It’s younger, brasher, and has some subtle notes to it.

It loses points because of the finish. However I enjoyed it. I don’t include price into my reviews, so it’s fairly close in score to my Caol Ila 12 score. Worth trying. Maybe not worth buying, but I’m glad I tried it.

81/100

Scotch review #380, Islay review #80, Whisky Network review #579