Caol Ila 18 1993 A.D. Rattray

Thanks to /u/devoz for the first sip of this and the subsequent swap of a sample because I was much, much too burned out to review it properly at the time.

I had drank so much that my tasting tongue (as opposed to my lovin tongue or my speakin tongue) was dead. I quickly made a swap for a sample, and walked away with my tail between my legs (also my love tail).

I recently wrote about how I should be reviewing more Caol Ilas. As I have three other samples of Caol Ila, so I can keep bringing this up.

Caol Ila 18 1993 A.D. Rattray is what closed out the night for me. I was offered others, and turned them down, as I was drunk and knew it and am at an age where I know that’s more of an end to the night rather than a start.

Most nights. Not to mention I was one of the few schmucks who didn’t take the next day off.

So it’s peated, it was aged in a sherry butt, and it’s over 15 years old. I should really enjoy this. Let’s see how it tastes, shall we?

Price: N/A at the LCBO

Region: Islay

Distilled: 19.07.1993

Bottled: 04.06.2012

Cask Type: Sherry Butt

Cask Number: 11143

Abv: 55.7%

Colour: 7.5YR 6/8

Nose: Campfire, ginger, orange, fresh bread, lime, old rotten wood/house

Odd thing happened on tasting this two times. On the first time the yeast was the most prominent. On the second time, it was more the peat. So I guess that means all my reviews are horseshit. Time to wrap this up people!

Seriously though, the sherry dominates here. Smoke lingers, but time has made it more into a dry, old wood smell. Different and nice.

Taste: Smoke, herbal, white pepper/horseradish, mildew, cocoa, caramel

More of the old, aged smoke notes here. The sherry adds some cocoa/earth elements, but honestly otherwise doesn’t really show up. It’s quite hot, somewhat herbal, somewhat sweet, but mostly earth. Lots and lots of earth.

Finish: Currant, anise, black cherry pop, peat, mint, toast

Sherry comes back from it’s holiday in the south of France in the finish, dusts itself off, and then shows us who daddy is.

Lots of spice, more red fruit, dark flavours, and… toast? Wow, only time I’ve had that was /u/texacer‘s special blend (not a euphemism for semen, I swear).

Conclusion: This has a nice, interesting nose, a really great finish, and a hot as fuck, earth bomb in your mouth taste. To say the least I wish there was more sherry influence in the taste.

And to say the most, holy damn the taste needs work. Otherwise this would be a really, really good dram.

That said, if you aren’t the biggest taste queen (also my lovin queen), then maybe this is perfect for you.

83/100

Scotch review #527, Islay review #118, Whisky Network review #879