Caol Ila 6 2009 Old Malt Cask [Mystery]

Thanks to /u/Ethanized for sending me these mystery samples

Mysterious Woods is the first mystery sample (from Ethanized) where I actually start to think about the name and how it relates to the whisky.

Was this made using some mysterious casks? Was it some Frankenstein’s monster cask like Amrut Spectrum? Am I reading too much into this and Ethanized just came back from communing with nature?

Probably the last one. Let’s see how this tastes, shall we?

Price: N/A at the LCBO

Region: Islay

Cask Type: Refill sherry hogshead

Abv: 50%

Colour: 2.5Y 9/4

Nose: Cumin, cocoa, pear, lemon pepper, ginger

Earthy and peaty. Glad I waited for this one last. And totally knew to do that. Yes, I knew what I was doing all along.

Earthy peat. Less brine to the nose. More citrus and peppery. Nice amount of ginger and cocoa here, though I think the cocoa is a fluke more than an age bonus.

Taste: Cocoa, brine, brown sugar, pear, lemongrass, barnyard

Quite well done. Yes, there’s some brine, however I’m going to say the amount of earth included means this isn’t Islay (wow I’m bad at this).

Love the different flavours here. Sometimes less brine peated malts can suffer from too much earth, however this isn’t the case.

Finish: Lime candied zest, mint, brine, carrot

Nice lime. An old me would have guessed Caol Ila right there, but I’m obsessed with the lack of brine… on the nose. Wow I need to get better at this.

Good spice notes, still a lot of earth on the finish, though it’s sweeter now.

Conclusion: An odd dram, to say the least. Knowing what it is after the fact makes more sense. It’s a young Caol Ila. You don’t have anything ashy, however the lime/citrus elements are still there.

I thought it was a peated Highland due to the amount of earth in here, and assuming that any peat they used was from Islay, thus giving the brine. Totally. Was wrong none the less.

Really easy drinking with nice earth elements and nothing that blows you out. Nice sipping dram.

83/100

Guess: Peated Highland, 40-46%. Old Ballantrun

Actually: Caol Ila 6 2009 Old Malt Cask

Scotch review #706, Islay review #157, Whisky Network review #1171