Notes of honey, citrus, and oak blend together beautifully, creating a delightful sipping experience. Most of the output doesn’t even get matured on Islay, being shipped in bulk to the mainland for aging there. Caol Ila 18 Year Old was released in 2002 in Diageo’’s Hidden Malts range, which continued the task begun in 1988 with the Classic Malts, highlighting the group’’s distilleries that had until then been in the shadow of the blends they helped produce. With Water: The addition of a few drops of water seems to initially mute the aroma, requiring a rest in the glass. Tasting the 18 was truly a disappointment at the time, much like your experience, but a few months later I revisited the bottle and it was exceptional, and remains my favourite whisky to this day.

V. is the Dutch private limited liability company, having its statutory seat in Rotterdam, The Netherlands and its office at Zwaanshals 530, 3035 KS Rotterdam, The Netherlands. The bottlings got older and older every year until it disappeared from the Special Releases lineup altogether in 2019. Your continued use of the Service after any such changes or updates take effect will constitute acknowledgement and (as applicable) acceptance of those changes or updates.Please read our Privacy Statement for more information on our use and processing of your personal information.

If no such law exists in a Member’s country of residence, the Member has to be over 21 years old to use the Service. The Service and your account are for your personal use only and may not be shared with any third parties.As we’ve discussed before, Caol Ila remains a hidden gem, to the extent that those exist anymore in our information-saturated world of whisky. The finish is long, a hint of background smoke appears at last, very subtle though, sweetness, bitterness, chocolate, warming spices. The driver will input your year of birth into their device and may then require an ID check to complete the age verification process. Duncan was the nephew of John Johnston of Lagavulin and cousin to the Laphroaig Johnstons and so the family were involved with yet another distillery on the island. My problem with Caol Ila 18 and, indeed, the 12 is that they are underwhelming compared to their independently bottled counterparts.

This is a 18 year old with leafy and sweet palate, with the grassy and herbal aromas that makes for a perfect combination.For many this is the stand out in the Caol Ila range but we recommend having a bottle of the 12 Year Old for serving with food and a bottle of the 18 Year Old for evening drams. You hereby represent and warrant that you are authorized to make any Contributions, that your Contributions and the use by us will not infringe or violate the rights of any third party. You are responsible for the accuracy of the information you provide to us in relation to your account, and for updating it where necessary. However, one of the thibgs Zi love about Caol Ila is how well it shows at a comparatively younger age.

Caol Ila is derived from Gaelic Caol Ìle for "Sound of Islay" in reference to the distillery's location overlooking the strait between Islay and Jura.

I last tasted the 18 side by side with a superb Hunter Laing 18 year old bottling (50% abv, no filtering or colour) and there was no contest despite costing the same.