Scotch Whisky Review #358: Scotch Universe Caol Ila Callisto X 13 Year First Fill PX Sherry Cask (2007)

Image Credit to /u/xreekinghavocx, his review can be found here

Distillery: Caol Ila.

Bottler: Scotch Universe.

Region: Islay.

Age: 13 Year. Distilled in 2007 and bottled in 2020.

ABV: 55.4%. Cask Strength.

Cask Type: First fill PX Sherry Cask.

Cost: Sample courtesy of /u/xreekinghavocx.

Color: 1.3, Russet/Muscat.

This is the 23rd installment of this years’ Christmas Countdown. You can see the 2020 edition here and 2019 edition here.

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Nose: This is absolutely a sherried peated dram. You get a lot of the sherry up front along with a super heavy, oily and meaty note. The combination of it all smells a lot like chashu smells like when you first open the pot it’s been cooking in.

Palate: It is strong with a super heavy mouthfeel. It’s thick, oily, and fatty. The best way to describe it is that it almost has the consistency of slightly coagulated bacon grease. There’s some fruity notes of peaches and muscat to go with it. Water cuts down the heat a bit while keeping the bacon grease-esque texture and the fruity notes.

Finish: Surprisingly much shorter than expected. It is medium to short in length. Bacon fat and chashu are the main notes here. Charred meat bits from a charcoal grill come along with it. It lives behind a super oily residue and some bitter note that I can’t place but I don’t like.

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Conclusion: Sherried whisky always has a place in my collection and that extends to peated sherried whiskies as well. This Caol Ila bottling by Scotch Universe almost demonstrates how fantastic one of those can be. The nose flaunts it with the incredible meaty notes with a bit of sweetness from the sherry to go along with it. The fruits that show themselves in the palate are tasty and really help cut through the richness of the whisky and keep this from becoming a one track dram. The finish almost brings it home but falls short by being too short and having this weird note that I couldn’t place at all. Still, the balance is mostly there between the savory notes from the peat and the sweeter/fruitier notes from sherry. Just shy of greatness I think, but still quite a tasty one.

Final Score: 83.

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Scotch Whisky Review #358, Islay Review #56, Whisky Network Review #508

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Scoring Legend:

• 96-100: The perfect dram, nectar of the gods.
• 90-95: Near perfect, there is something truly special about this whisky.
• 85-89: Amazing, will always try to keep a bottle of this in my collection (if feasible).
• 80-84: Very Good, maybe only one minor nitpick about the whisky keeping it here.
• 75-79: Good, quite enjoyable to drink.
• 70-74: Solid, wouldn’t go out of my way to get it.
• 60-69: Meh, still drinkable.
• Below 59: If you have a bottle of this, start cooking with it instead.