Caol Ila 9 year old 2010 Signatory, cask 316659

(Caol Ila cluster homepage)

This Caol Ila cluster started off weirdly with Wednesday's Signatory Small Batch, which was assembled from three refill hoggies and two refill butts. Today's CI comes from one of those butts' sibling butts, cask 316659, which isn't shocking because Signatory has already bottled more than seventy 2010 casks from the Port Askaig distiller. Like most of those casks, #316659 was a sherry butt. My experience with this parcel has been very positive so far. Will this cask continue up that route, or will it go weird like the Small Batch?

Most of these Siggy 2010 CIs
look just like this!
(pic source)

Distillery: Caol Ila
Region: Islay
Owner: Diageo
Independent Bottler: Signatory
Range: Cask Strength Collection
Age: 9 years (22 Sep 2010 - 10 Feb 2020)
Maturation: Refill sherry butt

Cask #: 316659

Outturn: 673 bottles

Alcohol by Volume: 60.1%
Chillfiltered? No
e150a? No
(from a bottle split)

NEAT

The nose is packed with dates and fresh apricots on top of heaps of almond butter and cashew butter. The toasted seaweed, moderate oceany peat, and hint of yeast have plenty of stamina too. Very nutty sherry merges seamlessly with a medium-peated spirit in the palate. Baking spices, figs, anise, blood oranges, and a hint of blossoms arrive with less heat than expected. The lean finish is all earth, salt, and a little bit of seaweedy peat.

Reducing it to the Small Batch's strength:

DILUTED to 47.1%abv, or 1⅔ tsp of water per 30mL whisky

The farmy, meaty nose also offers almond cookies, grilled pears, and seaweed. The palate becomes creamier, peatier, and earthier, with subtle notes of molasses and almonds. It finishes brighter and sweeter, with a slight tartness in the back.

WORDS WORDS WORDS

This is about as good as it can get at 9 years old. The finish reads a bit limited, but everything else is great. I'd even say the palate is better than the nose. There's no rawness, no prunes, and very little burn. And there are dates, figs, blood oranges, apricots, and cashews. Would another year or two have improved it, or would the oak start to take over? I don't know, but if you have a bottle of this stuff, give it a hug and a pour.

Availability - Maybe a few bottles remain in Europe
Pricing - €130 - €160
Rating - 88

Caol Ila 9 year old 2010 Signatory, Small Batch 7 for Germany

(Caol Ila cluster homepage)

This is the first of three 9 year old Caol Ilas, distilled in 2010 and bottled by Signatory, that I'll be reviewing. Not really sure how I lucked into a trio of such splits, in three difference circumstances, but there it is. Comparison time!

I'm fascinated by this "Small Batch" range. Signatory already has its famous Un-Chillfiltered series whose bottlings have expanded from single casks to triple casks. This small batch edition was assembled from five casks. One thing that does set it apart from the UCFs is that it's from more than one cask type. Here it's a pair of refill sherry butts and three refill hoggies.

Let's see how lucky the German CI fans were...

source

Distillery: Caol Ila
Region: Islay
Owner: Diageo
Independent Bottler: Signatory
Range: Small Batch
Age: 9 years (2010 - 18 Mar 2020)
Maturation: 3 refill hogsheads + 2 refill sherry butts

Casks: 321718, 321722, and 321726 (hogs); 316635 and 316661 (butts)

Outturn: ????

Exclusive to: Alemania
Alcohol by Volume: 47.1%
Chillfiltered? No
e150a? No
(from a bottle split)

NOTES

Ah, super young in the nose. It starts off very grassy, with plenty of wet, sandy seaweed mixed in. After 20+ minutes of airing out, the nose starts to offer dried apricots, spearmint gum, and semisweet chocolate.

The palate is sooty and very ashy. Burnt grass, burnt anise, with some almond extract and sea salt. Floral notes take over and become almost perfumy.

It finishes simply with flowers, ash, and prosciutto.

WORDS WORDS WORDS

Two surprises here. One, that I spelled "prosciutto" correctly on the first try. Two, this Caol Ila is a weird jumble. The nose is fine, though limited, while the palate reads like no actual blending was done, rather that a quintet of (troublesome?) casks were dumped together and diluted. I'm sure that's not the case, but it's what the result tastes like. It makes me yearn for one of the UCF Caol Ilas. Next up, a very different 9yo 2010...

Availability - Possibly still around in Germany
Pricing - around €65 - €75
Rating - 78

The 2023 Caol Ila mini-cluster!

Ah, Caol Ila, the faceless corporate factory that consistently cranks out high quality whisky with nary a human touch, like the MGP of Scotland, but different.

Constructed above the Sound of Islay, its namesake, the original Caol Ila distillery passed through several owners between 1846 and 1927 before being consumed by DCL to help fill the whisky giant's blends. The two-still distillery was flattened and then replaced by a six-still facility in 1972. Forty years later, additional washbacks were added to increase production capacity to meet the Johnnie Walker beast's needs.

A side result of being a popular blend ingredient, Caol Ila's single malt has found its way into the warehouses of all the major independent bottlers. In fact, by the end of this month Whiskybase's Caol Ila list will cross 5000 different whiskies.

While I do not possess 5000 Caol Ila samples, 🙁, I do have quite a few. This blog is a little short on CI posts (there are more Kilchoman reviews!) so let's fix that. As December offers perfect Caol Ila weather, I'm going to dish out a mini-cluster of Port Askaig's smoky stuff for the rest of 2023, specifically bottlings from Signatory and Gordon & MacPhail. A larger cluster will follow in 2024.

CAOL ILA 2023 CLUSTER ROLL CALL:

1. Caol Ila 9 year old 2010 Signatory, Small Batch 7 for Germany - "...a weird jumble."

2. Caol Ila 9 year old 2010 Signatory, cask 316659 - "...dates, figs, blood oranges, apricots, and cashews."

3. Caol Ila 9 year old 2010 Signatory, cask 316637 - "...ashy and raw at times [...] a bit violent with the tastebuds."

4. Caol Ila 11 year old 2010 Signatory, cask 316662 for The Whisky Exchange - "...would certainly thrill Ardbeg fans with all its Bigness."

5. Caol Ila 14 year old 2007 Gordon & MacPhail, cask 311973 for Nickolls & Perks - "...the butt's previous contents (which smell a lot like Pedro Ximenez) gradually consume most of the CI character."

6. Caol Ila 10 year old 2006 Gordon & MacPhail, casks 306183+4 and 306186+7 - "This tilts much more towards my preferred take on Caol Ila."

7. Caol Ila 14 year old 2005 Gordon & MacPhail, cask 17600504 - "The spirit is older now, holding onto its pleasures while beginning to soften and take on subtle notes from the cask."

8. Caol Ila 14 year old 2003 Gordon & MacPhail, batch 18/005 - "...more of a dessert CI than anything else."

9. ??? G&M ???

10. ??? G&M ???

Bourbon and Rye Day Friday: Orphan Barrel Rhetoric 23 year old bourbon

After posting a combined total of zero BARD Fridays from December 2017 to February 2023, I've been true to my word bringing Bourbon and Rye Day back with 11 of these posts in the past nine months. Though none are scheduled for the rest of this year, I do have a slew of American whiskies open, so the BARDs will return in 2024.

I've tried several Orphan Barrel bourbons, and wouldn't particularly recommend any of them, but I found Rhetoric 22yo pretty drinkable. So how about a sip or seven of Rhetoric 23? I had a good week, so I'm feeling naively optimistic.

Owner: Diageo

Brand: Orphan Barrel

Orphan: Rhetoric
Distillery: Old Bernheim
Type: Bourbon Whiskey

Mashbill: 86% corn, 8% barley, 6% rye
Age: minimum 23 years (1990-1993 to 2017)

Alcohol by Volume: 45.3%
(from a bottle split)

NOTES

The smells come in bundles. First there's pine, saline, and yuzu(!). Then cherry candy and furniture polish. Strawberry frosted cupcakes gradually turn into vanilla frosted cupcakes, with some limeade in the background. After 45 minutes, almond extract starts to take over.

There's less bitterness and sugar on the palate than I expected. It's slightly earthy. More honey than vanilla. Sweet oranges slide into tart limes. The background flavors in early sips are ginger and flowers. Later on, they're replaced by mint and root beer.

The finish gets wobbly with standard barrel char, overripe bananas, mint extract, and tannin-a-plenty.

WORDS WORDS WORDS

Don't stop me if you've heard this before: The nose is the best part, by far. But the bourbon is......probably my favorite Orphan Barrel so far. Had the finish not deflated so abruptly, I'd offer some heavily-qualified raves for this Orphan. Tannin takeover is expected for a bourbon this old, in fact it often happens with bourbons half its age. That Rhetoric is still approachable at 23 years makes me wonder what these Old Bernheim barrels were like at age 15 (or 12 or 8). Possibly something like this?

Cheers! Welcome to December.

Availability - Secondary market
Pricing - ???
Rating - 82

Black Bull 40 year old blended whisky, Batch 4

Alright, I'll get right to it. Between 2009 and 2016, Duncan Taylor released seven batches of 40 year old blended whisky. This is batch four, bottled in December 2012.

To note, most of the distilleries utilized in these batches match those of Duncan Taylor's old Lonach series. For instance, batch four was assembled with Glenlivet, Bunnahabhain, Glen Grant, Tamdhu, Invergordon, and Port Dundas whiskies. Lonach fans will recognize those names. And all BB40 batches, but the last, had ABVs between 40.2% and 41.9%. DT must have had quite a stash of low strength oldies in their warehouses.

As has been stated elsewhere on the Intertubes, this batch 4 was priced at less than €300. Three years later batch 7 was €900. Meanwhile, batch 7 is still available in Europe seven years after its release. Someone got a little bold with their prices.

But ignoring that €€€ issue, I'm looking forward to this 40-year-old nearly-all-malt blend.

Brand: Black Bull
Ownership: Duncan Taylor

Type: Blended Whisky

Parts: 89/11 malt/grain

Age: minimum 40 years

Maturation: ???

Batch: 4

Outturn: ???

Alcohol by Volume: 41.9%

Chillfiltered? No
e150a? No
(from a bottle split)

NOTES

Black licorice slowly turns into black walnuts on the nose. Dunnage and soil. Amontillado and rye bread. Hints of tar, sandalwood, apricot jam, and sultanas drift by now and then.

The age and malt content give this whisky's palate more thickness than one would expect an ABV this low. It starts with dried herbs, toasty oak, and salted roasted almonds, followed by coffee and ginger powder. Hints of wormwood and old old old old sherry casks arrive 60+ minutes later.

Its finish is chocolatey, but with a bite, almost like Mexican chocolate. Pipe tobacco and bitter citrus make cameos.

WORDS WORDS WORDS

There's no doubt about the whisky's age, and sherry casks are in the mix. As with many very old spirits, this 40yo's nose at first stuns the drinker, then steals the show from everything that follows. While the palate is quite good, it can't compete. And the finish proves to be a bit shorter and shallower than expected. Though I (very sadly) don't have Black Bull 30 on hand for comparison purposes, I think it edges this batch of the 40 due to its fruit and power. But Duncan Taylor's blenders delivered great whiskies in both instances.

Availability - Secondary market?
Pricing - ???
Rating - 88

Black Bull 12 year old blended whisky (old label)

"Black Bull" carries a Testosterone-filled Grrrr Manly Grunt connotation, so it worked as a strong visual brand name for a Scotch whisky back in the 1860s, when the reality of the Scottish bovine was actually the shaggy, gorgeous stoner Highland Coo.

The Black Bull brand experienced peaks and valleys until it was purchased by Duncan Taylor in the 1990s. DT then gave the brand a reboot in the 21st century, offering NAS, 12yo, 18yo, 21yo, 30yo, and 40yo blends. Nearly all of the whiskies younger than 40 flexed a 50%abv, sherry casks, and a high malt content at a competitive price.

I reviewed the first batch of the 30 year old, which was nigh on divine, back in 2018, and thought I'd also reviewed my sample of the 12 year old. But to my surprise this year, I found that 12yo sample still filed away. So here it is, nearly nine years after it was bottled by Mr. Chemistry of the Cocktail himself:

Just a few things have changed since February 2015, but is the sample among those things???

Brand: Black Bull
Ownership: Duncan Taylor

Type: Blended Whisky
Parts: 50/50 malt/grain
Maturation: Malts: refill sherry European oak butts and refill ex-bourbon American oak hoggies. Grains: ex-bourbon American oak barrels.

Age: minimum 12 years

Alcohol by Volume: 50%

Chillfiltered? No
e150a? No
(thank you, Jordan!)

NEAT

Some bright produce appears in the early nose: cantaloupe, honeydew, cucumber, and orange peel. Marzipan, maple, and cinnamon rolls fill the middle. And a whiff of steel wool stays in the back. The palate arrives simple but solid. Barley sugar, honey, and lemon candy play up front, but never get too sweet. Quieter notes of peppercorns, herbal bitterness, and tannin spice it up a little. The sweetness and bitterness balance out in the finish, with peppercorns and lemon candy lingering on the tongue.

DILUTED to ~43%abv, or 1 tsp of water per 30mL whisky

At this more standard blend strength, the nose comes in more floral (mostly orange blossoms), and with a more noticeable Oloroso side. The palate picks up a zippier zing (an actual note I wrote), with menthol, ginger, and a bit more tannin. The finish keeps the light sweetness, but the oak takes up a little more space.

WORDS WORDS WORDS

At 50%abv, this is much better than any standard 12yo blend on the market, though that's not saying much nowadays. There's no raw heat present (possibly due to its nearly nine years in the sample bottle), and it's well-balanced with the casks doing just enough without crowding the spirits. So it's very drinkable. At 43%, it starts drifting closer to its 12yo contemporaries, but not too tragically. I hope Duncan Taylor hasn't tinkered with their recipe too much because I'd certainly consider getting a bottle of the current BB12.

Availability - this batch has likely sold out
Pricing - current batches: $40 - $60
Rating - 85 (neat)

Tamnavulin 1966-1990 Moon Import 10th Anniversary

Moon Import is an independent bottler better known by previous anorak generations than by more recent whisky lovers. In the 1980s and 1990s, Moon dished out old glories from Ardbeg, Glen Grant, Bowmore, Longmorn, Macallan, and Springbank. Their output has been much quieter over the past decade, though they seem to be connected to MASAM's bulbous bottles.

Today's 1966 Tamnavulin is probably the first (and last?) classic Moon Import whisky to pass though my liver. I tried it side-by-side with Monday's 22yo Tamnavulin, also bottled at 45%abv.

pic source

Distillery: Tamnavulin
Ownership then: Invergordon Distillers Ltd.
Ownership now: Emperador Inc. (via Whyte and Mackay Group)
Region: Speyside (Livet)

Bottler: Moon Import
Age: 23 - 24 years old (1966 - 1990)
Maturation: ???
Alcohol by Volume: 45%

(from a bottle split)

NOTES

My nose notes say "Very similar to the 22yo but gentler", but then list completely different characteristics. It's "fruitier, dustier, funkier". Apples and lychees mix with mint leaves, cinnamon, butterscotch, and whole wheat bread crust.

The palate starts of toasty and nutty, almost like a Fino. Then the tart nectarines and sweet oranges appear. Apples and chile oil follow later, with a whiff of smoke in the background.

Sweet + tart citrus and stone fruits receive a zing of heat from the chile oil in the finish.

WORDS WORDS WORDS

This is a bright, fresh Speysider that I'd be happy to drink any day or evening. The fruits and nuts work very well together, offering a tastier and more balanced palate than the 22yo possessed. It's also very light and almost fragile. As with the 22yo, this bottle was opened seven months ago and the splits were promptly poured, so oxygen hasn't had the time to alter the liquid. Could 33 years in the bottle have softened the whisky? And who knows what its storage situation was for all that time. Did it once offer a bolder experience? If you've had a better experience with this whisky, please share in the comments!

Availability - Secondary market
Pricing - ????
Rating - 86