Caol Ila 12 and 18

Here in North Carolina we are just now getting Caol Ila in our state liquor stores. I have tries the 12 yo, and I like it, but I still prefer the Ardbeg, which is a higher alky per cent, and about 10 bucks cheaper.

Please someone comment on the Caol Ila 18yo. I am hesitant to spend the extra cash. How does it compare the the 15/16 yo Lagavulin and Laphroig offerings??

chuck

Reply to
chuck
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IMO it doesn't really compare to Ardbeg, Lagavulin or Laphroig except to say that they are all from Islay..

Not like comparing Apples and Oranges but sort of like comparing a Granny Smith with a Macintosh ..sure they are both apples but..

Any way..the Caol Ila is in no way a "Peat Monster" like the other three you've mentioned, the 18 is far smoother than the 12 and the finish is clearer and longer. I find that I really taste the salt and the sea in both the 12 and 18 more so than in anything other than Laphroig. It is hard to put into words but for me the Iodine reak of the Laphroig would be "Low Tide" while the brighter tang and slightly saltier taste of the Caol Ila is "high Tide".

If you like the 12 then you will almost certainly like the 18 it wont be any closer to the Ardbeg but ya never know when you might want a change of pace.

I have occasionally found indie Caol Ilas and those that are 15 y/o or better and bourbon casked are for me an automatic buy.

Reply to
ajames54

Thanks for the great info. I went out and popped for a bottle of the 18 yo. I put it with some other "specials" to give myself this Christmas.

Here in North Carolina, despite state liquor stores, our selection is improving yearly. Although, to get my Ardbeg I had to "special order" an entire case (with no price break for quantity) because they do not normally carry it.

chuck

ajames54 wrote:

Reply to
chuck

If you get the chance, try a bottle of Caol Ila Cask Strength.

Jim

Reply to
Jim

Jim, not one we get, unfortunately. I did try a Macallan (sp?) cask strength and was not wild about it. I thought that the alchohol overrode the flavor of the malt. The Ardbeg at

46 (I think) per cent is about my limit. But I'm always willing to try.

BTW - what ever happend to the regular gurus on this site? Johanna, Bart, Bushido, etc?? Have they left for elsewhere??

chuck

Reply to
chuck

Don't be afraid of cask strength. It's several whiskies in one. The strong flavour undiluted can sometimes be overriding. However the addition of water in varying quantities will give you a variety of tastes and you can find out which suits you the best. I tend to prefer cask strength whiskies as they also tend to be non-chill filtered.

Renko

Reply to
Renko

"Renko" skrev i melding news:dkb4c9$q30$ snipped-for-privacy@nwrdmz02.dmz.ncs.ea.ibs-infra.bt.com...

According to Phil Cousins in alt.drinks.scotch-whisky 25.05.2005, in practice they all ARE non-chillfiltered:

Quote

Anything with a strength of over about 47% by volume won't have been chill filtered because at that strength even when chilled the esters remain in solution and can't be filtered out. So generally cask strength whisky isn't chill filtered.

Unquote

Gunnar

Reply to
Gunnar Thormodsaeter

The key word is "generally" rather than absolutely. But yes in practice all cask strength whiskies are these days non-chill filtered. That cannot be said to be true of many standard strength whiskies.

Renko

Reply to
Renko

"Renko" skrev i melding news:dkbhar$4hj$ snipped-for-privacy@nwrdmz03.dmz.ncs.ea.ibs-infra.bt.com...

I don't have the knowkedge to say if Phil Cousins is right. But from what he says, it seems as even if a CS physically has gone through chill filtering, this will not have had any (undesired) effect because of the strength. Sounds rather absolutely to me.

Gunnar

Reply to
Gunnar Thormodsaeter

The point I was trying to make with "generally" was not any dispute of the fact that Phil Cousins made about the effects of chill-filtering, but merely that generally companies don't chill-filtered, but that hasn't stopped it happening. So generally they don't but once cannot say "absolutely". I hope my meaning is clear now.

Renko

Reply to
Renko

"Renko" skrev i melding news:dkcrcn$8k0$ snipped-for-privacy@nwrdmz03.dmz.ncs.ea.ibs-infra.bt.com...

Yes, I believe it is! Could be that since english is not my native language, I sometimes misunderstand :^) Anyway, I just and simply find Cousins' info to be good news, and for me it seems to be a probable explanation to why I usually find higher proof whiskies to have more depth or to be more complex than the standard bottlings of 40 or 43%.

Gunnar

Reply to
Gunnar Thormodsaeter

Gunnar

On that we both agree. As I sit typing this I am sipping a dram of a Black Adder Raw cask bottling of a February 1990 Tormore bottled in 2000. (It does sometimes take me a while to get round to drinking a bottle!!) The bottle clearly states NO ADDED COLOURING - NO CHILL FILTERING. The bottle is a hefty 66.2% ABV and also recommends adding a little water to release the full flavour.

Iechyd Da!

(Welsh for Good Health)

Renko

Reply to
Renko

66.2% ? Wow. That must be a fairly robust little fella :-)

Jim

Reply to
Jim

Chuck, I've been wondering the same thing. I haven't seen hide nor hair of them in a long while. Is it possible they've switched to ...wine! Not!!

Dave

Reply to
DaveS

I doubt it. And I miss them too.

Bushido, aka Professor Malt, aka Brian, was getting more involved with Web-based forums when he drifted away from adsw. He'll post here maybe once a year lately. My most recent sighting of him was on the malts-l list-serv archive in January of this year:

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(I'm not a regular there; no time to follow all the Web forums.)

Googling on Ardbeggeddon and following the links may also locate Bushido's tracks. He was core member of a group that used to rent a suite in Las Vegas once a year, with each participant contributing a few amazing malts.

Johanna was marketing a single-malt newsletter in Canada, last I heard. (I received a few copies but didn't subscribe. I could neither find nor afford most of the reviewed malts. Here's a link:

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) She has also appeared on malts-l, but not lately as far as I can tell.

I don't know if either of them is posting regularly anywhere at this point, although I can't see either of them abandoning the water of life. You could do worse than explore some of the Web-based malt forums. The most extensive collection of links I've found is one by Ulf Buxrud, who I recall used to post here at one time. Those Scandinavians do like their malts. Go to

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and scroll down to discussion groups. There's a treasure trove of malt lore available in some of these groups, and you may find traces of our missing gurus.

Bart disappeared fairly suddenly and I really don't know what happened to him. Too bad; like Bushido and Johanna, he had a fine way with words when it came to single malts.

If you find anything worthwhile out there, and/or recent sightings of our heroes, please report back and share. I'd hate to see the only Usenet malt forum disappear.

cheers.

bill

Reply to
bill van

Bill Thanks much for the fine work on your response. I'll print your reply to be sure I have it as reference and will do some follow up work.

DaveS

Reply to
DaveS

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