Caol Ila 9 Year (SMWS 53.391 "Dark Secrets")

 The sixth and final sample from the September 2022 outturn of the Scotch Malt Whisky Society ("SMWS") at the Jack Rose Saloon here in Washington DC. 

I've had my fair fill of Caol Ila from the SMWS, that's for sure - and every damn time I tell myself "this is quite nice stuff, if a bit staid." It really occupies a strange zone of eminently tasty and well-executed yet also distinctly un-thrilling.

Here are the official notes: 

The nose was complex and abundant with smoked fish on a seafood platter served with marmalade glazed ham and smoky bacon on bed of lavender and red liquorice. The palate blended herbal medicinal notes with treacle and burnt toffee. Smoked salmon with dill arrived with singed orange skins before deeper elements introduced raisins rolled in nutmeg and coal dust. Water brought nutty notes to the fore alongside thick maritime smoke, barnacles on a ship's hull and crab meat served with quince jelly. Tarry ropes followed on the palate with thick ash and soot while smoked prunes and molasses delivered a deep sweetness. After spending 6 years in an ex-bourbon hogshead this was transferred to a 2nd fill oloroso hogshead for the remainder of its maturation.

This was pretty accurate, all in all. People at the tasting were generally divided 50/50 between this bottle and the Glen Scotia that came immediately before it. 

Bottled at 56.2% (quite an angel's share!), let's wade through: 

Nose: Fish, tarry hemp, molasses, brown sugar, smoke, peat, more fish, some bacon. 

Mouthfeel: Very thick. 

Palate: Brown-sugar baked fish (?!). Herbal, coffee, toffee, sweet, medicinal, coalish. 

Finish: Long, sweet, and smoky. Very nice. 

Verdict: It's always an unfortunate thing to come last in a cask strength whisky tasting - by the time I got to this perfectly nice Caol Ila, my palate was numbed and I definitely wasn't operating at 100%. A shame, because I liked this quite a bit. SMWS seems to have a few sherry-finished Caol Ila offerings lately, which is good, because the sherry really gives it a needed dimension that pushes it past the usual bottles. Good stuff, recommended.