Gordon & MacPhail Caol Ila 1969

Tasted in Whisky Magazine Issue 50 by Martine Nouet and Dave Broom.

Whisky Magazine is the perfect complement to the dram in your glass. Every issue brings you fascinating articles on the art, science and romance of the 'water of life', plus page after page of tasting notes.

• Issue 50 online • Buy issue 50 (£5.95)
• Subscribe to Whisky Magazine (from £28.38)
• Preview current issue (74) • Preview other issues online

Tasting Notes

Martine Nouet Nose Lively oak with a sherry character. Toned down creosote. Moss and mushrooms. Smoked chestnuts. Lapsang souchong tea. Then sweet notes come up. Vanilla, toffee, butter scotch. Palate Sweet and bitter. Sherried. Smoke hangs above wood. Finish Dry, oaky, sooty with a hint of tarred timber. Comment Surprisingly, the distillery character resists in this oldie. And peat “revisits” the aromatic palette. Integration again but no fusion.

Dave Broom Nose High concentration with an immediate wisp of perfumed smoke. Peat retained. An elegant mix of phenols, honeyed sweetness, toffee, and even some pineapple. Robust yet complex. Palate Peat from the start. Slightly dry tannins and dry smoke. Singed grass. Hessian. Finish Dark chocolate, undergrowth, ashes. Comment Everything has deepened and become richer but those oils have been retained and the smoke has controlled everything.