The Caol Ila 10 Year 2006 from The Exclusive Malts
30 ml Kir ingredient sample bottle
Tasting notes:
Farrago. That’s the word that comes to mind when I nose this brightly-spangled whisky. There’s a kiln-scorched scone topped with lemon butter and poppy seeds. Also, whiffle balls pulled straight from the box. Above my head, jet streams of honeysuckle stretch the horizon while I dip the corner of a fluff sandwich in hyssop tea.
I want to say that the mouth is creamed fire, as if Heraclitus found himself enrolled at Le Cordon Bleu to study pastry. (None think well of him, naturally, but the dessert is a hit.) There’s also cherry made into a laser so focused that you can’t feel it. The tang of steroidal blackberry syrup used for Kir rounds out the richness on offer here, though the Champagne blanches and won’t enter the glass. All of which is to say that this is a dram that walks heavily and carries a big stick.
The finish completes the baroque tableau with licorice hula hoops, cigarettes still burning in their ashtrays at the G8 summit, sub-Saharan soil, dice fashioned from the hip bone of an ocelot, and cricket chirps slowed down in the sound studio until you swear you’re hearing human voices sharing secrets.
Rating:
–John
–Our thanks to The Exclusive Malts and ImpEx for the sample!
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