Review #12: Caol Ila 15yr 1996/2012, Hunter Hamilton/Sovereign, 56.5%, cask #HH8687. 240 bottles

getting ready for the new ones

The new batches of K&L exclusives are arriving soon, so it seems worthwhile to look at the ones from last year. This is something I worry about (b/c apparently I don't have enough problems): there aren't a lot of good casks to go around anymore, so getting the pick of them would have to require (a) controlling a huge batch of them, (b) overpaying for them, or (c) both. And it's such a pain to import into the U.S., I'm not sure how we end up with anything but everyone else's leftovers.

Anyway, I can taste this one for myself.

This one is bottled by "Sovereign" which is Hunter Hamilton which is Douglas Laing. This all seems unnecessarily complicated, but I'm sure it means something to someone. It has the geocities label of whisky labels. (I'm not fond of the metal ink or the curlicues, but I rather like the vintage date printed over the text.) It was $120, I think, as a pre-release, and then ended up down to $100. It's still available.

This one is nice.

Pale liquid but rich nose, with lemon, lots of ashy peat, coastal notes, and some surprising floral sweetness -- honeysuckle. Maltiness, too. Almonds, shortbread, and engine oil. Some camphor and bicycle tire if you wait for it. Nothing astonishing, but everything's here and it all works together. (and this is neat)

Palate is surprising sweet and very very peaty. It's a dark flavor that starts off as tar and then finishes off ashy a very long time later. It's nicely balanced by the sweetness, though: something somewhere between candied lemon, honey, and marzipan. Some brine and oil comes in late, but you can chew on that peat for a long time.

Caol Ila bottlings seem to be consistently very good. The dangers, I suppose, are that they are too ashy ("Coal Ila") or too bland; but this one is just right. The upside is limited, I guess, with these teenage CI's -- they're never transcendent, the best you can do is get everything in perfect balance. But that's pretty good. Other than the Whiskyman bottling, I can't think of a better teenage one.

score: 89