Caol Ila (pronounced Kull-Eela) was a rather unknown Islay whisky to me, but apparently it is the largest distillery on Islay and one of the largest that Diageo owns. The bulk of its output goes to blends and since 1999, they have produced whisky with unpeated barley for a few months each year, until recently used exclusively for blending.
Color : pale yellow
Smell : A light smell of smoke & peat, followed rapidly by a blast of fruity sweetness.
Taste : Fruity, lots of apples, with a smokey aftertaste. Oily, reminds me of Bowmore, but less peaty and more sweet. Some complexity hidden deep inside the clash between fruit and smoke, with an undefineable taste (enveloppe glue ?).
Surprisingly strong, but if you like a sweet punch in the face, this could be your favorite dram.
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Fine whisky
Caol Ila is a fine whisky indeed :) It was one of the first ilsay whiskys I ever drank and it really stuck with me :) And very accessible for people new to whisky too!
I do have to mention.. Its quite weird; a whisky post with a beer picture next to it..
Beer
In reply to Fine whisky by Gert
I know about the beer glass. It's only a taxomony placeholder for the booze category of blog posts. But you're right : most of this category contains posts about whisky, so I'd better replace it with a picture of a dram. But untill I can find a worthy replacement picture, the beer glass stays...
I had this Whisky for the
I had this Whisky for the first time this weekend during a blind tasting...I figured immediately it was an Islay and I must say, one of the finer I have ever had...
The sweet taste you mention made us think of Licorice root...
Very fine malt indeed...