Caol Ila

An absolutely gorgeous whisky that smells, tastes, and finishes very uniformly. Absolutely worth the price of 130 SGD for a 2cl pour. This is without a doubt the best Caol Ila I’ve ever had and amongst the best whiskies I’ve had in general!

Definitely an excellent sherried Caol Ila, probably the best that I have came across

50 SGD for a 2cl pour is good value for a bottle like this although I wished it was bottled at a higher ABV for an additional oomph and perhaps it could do with more complexity in the body

A good, above average Caol Ila that’s definitely comparable to some Port Ellens and packs a heavy punch while being considerably cheaper than Port Ellens of similar vintage + age, another example of how 1970s and early 1980s Caol Ila can be really good (while also affordable)

After drinking quite alot of Caol Ilas, I have came to the conclusion that while it’s definitely most likely to be worthwhile of your money, offering good-value and decent Islay whiskies, it’s quite hard to find an excellent sherried Caol Ila, especially for a good price (although the same issue applies to basically every Islay distillery). This was not an old vintage whisky by any means, but it was a better than expected Caol Ila, at a respectable 30+ years of age, available at decent prices, and it had a good balanced mixture of peat & sherry

An interesting old vintage Caol Ila matured in oak and then presumably finished in a sherry cask and the cask influence certainly shows itself, the smoky-sweet balance is not quite there and there’s a few off notes