Review #223: Caol Ila Distillers Edition 2016

Islay - 12 - Chill Filtered - e150- $80 - 44%

Caol Ila Distillers Edition is where Diego comes in, fixes their OBs by upping the ABV to 46%, and stopping chill-filtration and artificial coloring and creates a cute marketing ploy and increases the price.  This particular is a finish in Ex-Moscatel cask.  What is Moscatel?  My cursory google search shows it is a grape prepared similarly to sherry but it is rarely served on its own. This was distilled in 2004 and bottled in 2016 Now on to the juice.  

Color - Old Gold

Nose - Peaches, lemon drops, green tomatoes, and the tiniest hints of peat smoke

Palate - Simple syrup, lemons, generic white fruit, sea salt

Finish - Short -  Ocean spray, match smoke, iodine, corn syrup, and more heat than there should be for 43%

Overall - 5 - The nose was sweeter than I thought it would be, not cloying but close.  I could just barely pick up any peat and if done blind, probably would have missed it.  The whole dram was sweet from start to finish. It has been a while since I have had the OB 12 but looking at my notes, it looks like this is a little lighter on the peat and heavier on the sweet than the OB.  If you are a fan of the OB 12 and that sounds nice, it is worth picking up. I am happy to drink it at the price I paid, but I wouldn't be picking it up myself.  

--------------------------------------------------------------

Rating system is price influenced as it is based on my shopping decisions when buying a bottle.

10 Best in Show

9 Great Dram for Special Occasions

8 Worthy of consistent spot in my collection

7 Worth picking up a bottle if in the mood

6 I would buy a bottle if it went on sale
5.5 I really enjoyed but it will never be priced at where I would buy a bottle

5 I would drink it happily if offered

4 I would drink it if offered on the rocks

3 Maybe some soda will make this potable

2 I'll Pass

1 Toilet cleaner

Inclusive Ratings

Overall 6.1

Standard Deviation 0.91

Skew 0.66

Kurtosis -0.16