Caol Ila 12 year old (D.2010, B. 2023) Connoisseurs Choice / 45% /0.7l

Connoisseurs Choice is one of the oldest whisky series in the Gordon & MacPhail portfolio.

It debuted in 1968 with George Urquhart, a great whisky visionary and second-generation family owner. At the time, most Scottish malt distilleries were producing for blenders, not even considering promoting their whiskies as single malts. In 2018, the company updated the design of the series and added cask strength and wood finishes. The Caol Ila presented here, distilled in 2010, spent over a decade in refilled bourbon barrels before being aged for another year in casks from the Tuscan super-wine Sassicaia. The whisky was bottled at 45% abv as a batch of 23/044 in July 2023 in an edition of 3,900 bottles.

Nose: dried dates and figs, raspberries, strawberries, grilled pineapple, maple syrup-cured bacon, vanilla, caramel, white pepper and peat smoke in the background.

Palate: salted caramel, vanilla, lemon zest, cherries, orange peel, cranberries for meat, white pepper, ginger, peat smoke and light oak notes.

Finish: quite long, with notes of peat smoke, red berries, citrus peel, toffee, white pepper, a pinch of cinnamon and oak.