SMWS Caol ila 53.234 Mashtun notes: Talk about an opinion splitter! This one really spit the panel. We are all ‘Peat fiends’ and huge fans of Caol ila, as well as the SMWS, but this caused some ‘debate’. On the nose we got salty brine, peat, cherry pie, medicinal notes, sulphur, and hay bales. The...

  Caol ila 17 Bottled by Murray McDavid Mashtun notes: This one was brought to the tasting as a ‘wildcard’ due to the fact one of the panel got it at auction. It’s an independently bottled (Murray McDavid) Caol ila that was finished in a sweet white wine (Quart-de-Chaume) cask. It does have a wine...

Caol ila SMWS 18yr 53.227 Mashtun notes: We look forward to trying most offerings from the SMWS, especially their Caol ilas! This first fill bourbon cask Caol was no exception, and didn’t disappoint. The nose had peat smoke, sweet heather, forest fruits, burnt wood, and bourbon. The palate gave us charcoal, beach fires, heather, spices,...

Caol ila SMWS 53.218 Mashtun notes: We find that the SMWS are one of the most consistent independent bottlers out there, so that combined with the fact we have a resident Caol ila expert on our panel meant we had high hopes for this. The first thing to mention is that it was almost 65%...

SMWS 18 year Caol ila 53.198 Mashtun notes: We are always keen to try a new bottling from the SMWS as it’s one of the most consistent (for quality) independent bottlers out there. We have to say that this bottle is yet another cracker. The nose gave us a nice balance of peat and sherry...

Caol ila 13 yr old Gordon MacPhail Mashtun notes: One of the things we love about independent bottlers is the fact you get to taste non-standard finishes and ages from some of your favourite distilleries. That’s one of the reasons we got this 13 year old Caol ila.   On the nose it gave us...