Scotch Whisky Review #434: Old Particular K&L Pick Caol Ila 30 Year (1991)

Distillery: Caol Ila.

Bottler: Douglas Laing.

Region: Islay.

Age: 30 Year. Distilled in March of 1991 and bottled in September of 2021.

ABV: 52.2%.

Cask Number: DL15384.

Color: 0.4, Jounquil / Ripe Corn. Natural Color and Non Chill Filtered.

This dram is the eighth of 2022’s Christmas Countdown! Whiskies from previous years can be found here.

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Nose: It smells a lot like a nice gin with tons of aromatic notes. Juniper berries, rosemary, pine, and coriander are what come to mind.

Palate: The gin-esque nose carries on to the palate with loads of aromatics. Juniper berries, rosemary, pine, and coriander from the nose comes through again. There are bright and fruity berry notes joining the more aromatic ones. A rainbow peppercorn note comes out in the back as well.

Finish: Medium in length. More of those same gin and aromatic notes show up before gradually easing into smoke.

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Conclusion: A few weeks ago, /u/KissMeElon hosted an “old Islay tasting”. This Caol Ila is what we had between us to round out representation of Islay’s distilleries. I’ve not had any old Caol Ila but I would have never expected to have gotten something that smelled and tasted so much like a nice gin. There’s a ton of aromatic notes floating around here that I really enjoy, particularly the juniper berry notes. Not bad though certainly unexpected!

Final Score: 82.

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Scotch Whisky Review #434, Islay Review #72, Whisky Network Review #589

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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 and I will always try to keep a bottle of this in my collection if feasible.
• 85-89: Very good to amazing, almost the complete product and I’m likely wanting a bottle or two.
• 80-84: Quite good, pleasant overall though there is usually a few things that could be improved still.
• 75-79: Good, enjoyable to drink but ultimately flawed.
• 70-74: Alright, solid and 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.