Caol Ila 8 Year (SMWS Islay Festival 2022 Rare Release "Throw the Cork Away!")

 

Released as part of the 2022 Islay Festival by the Scotch Malt Whisky Society ("SMWS"), this 8 year Caol Ila has been finished for two years in a first fill Oloroso barrel made of American oak (!!!) by the Tevasa cooperage that SMWS works with. Wow, ok. 

Caol Ila is a behemoth of a distillery, and one of the most ubiquitous distilleries - especially in terms of Islay productions - bottles to find on the independent scene. My good friend Rob often - and correctly - jokes that "10 year Caol Ila" should be its own category of scotch. 

I've had more than my share of traditional Caol Ila, which can be lovely, but I was mostly tempted by the sherry finish on this one. Here are the official notes:

We imagined cooking sesame peanut noodles with umami paste on an old steam tugboat with boiler smoke, engine oils, tar and mechanical rags next to aromas of camphor and creosote. On the palate smoke galore – imagine a peat smoked green olive tapenade made with olives, anchovies, garlic, parsley, olive oil, capers and lemon zest – add some Maggi liquid seasoning and wasabi – you get the picture! Following reduction, the scent was that of dry cured streaky bacon, apples baked with raisins and cinnamon as we made ourselves a Pu-erh tea. The taste now salty, sweet and smoky as well as oily, thick and tarry – terrific!

and a little bonus:

From creator Euan Campbell: Islay is the only region where we’ve bottled two festival whiskies this year, and although they’re both in our Peated flavour profile, this one shows just how different these island drams can be – even from the same region and from the same flavour profile. In this case, the spirit spent time in bourbon hogsheads before we transferred it for more than two years to first fill American oak oloroso hogsheads from our partners at Tevasa cooperage in Jerez. That’s given the whisky a great mix of a more full-on Islay peaty character with dark, nutty and sweet oloroso sherry.

Sounds good. I'm quite interested in the peanut-with-umami-paste, and the various industrial scents - and how they might combine with a rich sherry finish. Frankly I have a very hard time getting my imagination around the official SMWS notes. Bottled at 58.4% ABV, let's immediately get into this one:

Nose: Well, straight off the bat, this nose is significantly more complex than a normal Caol Ila. I get peanut husks and skins, sweet lemon cookies, leather, lemon peel, eau du motor oil, coal smoke, and a curiously strong note of creosote - the herbal scent plants give off after a rain. 

With water: Bacon emerges in spades. Tons of uncured bacon. I don't really get any apples or tea from the official notes - what I get instead is a "bacon with sweet relish" note, almost like a hot dog (!) if it weren't for sweet herbal notes and a strong coal note. 

Mouthfeel: Surprisingly thin. More thin than medium, that's for sure.

Palate: One of those whiskies where the palate is much better than the nose. Peanuts galore - like peanut butter! - then red wine gums, red bitter grapes, kippers, olive oil, more lemon, a meaty note, and then some nutty sherry sweetness. 

With water: Sweet vanilla, bitter coal, and more peanuts. Interesting. The sherry finish seems to have "darkened" the overall palate, but with few distinct sherry notes. Mostly I get a general nuttiness combined with a sort of resinous grape note. 

Finish: Peat, smoke, leather, peanut skins, and something akin to furniture polish. A VERY long finish. Sits in the corners of your mouth for eons. 

Verdict: This is a wonderful Caol Ila, and a wonderful peated whisky, but I do wish the sherry notes were a little more forward, as with Ardbeg Uigeadail. This is very much like Uigeadail Junior, except at 58.4% strength. Like Uigeadail's little brother, perhaps. I would be very curious to see the sherry finishing on this lengthened to 4 or even 6 years! But still - recommended if you like peated whisky. This is a very well-balanced expression of sherried peated whisky from Caol Ila.