Caol Ila 25 was another hit at Sam’s Spirits night. It was one of those, off the radar, member’s only samplings at $200/bottle. It’s a distillery bottled at cask strength 59.4% alcohol. Now for all of you cask-strength-leary, don’t hit the back button (yet). I learned from the distiller that you really should cut it with water-it’s not meant to be drunk at full strength. Too much alcohol masks the flavours, overwhelming the experience. Once cut to ~40% it was a nice dram. Light grass in the nose. Pallette was light smoke, syrupy and a finish that lets you down gently. AFTER, I tried it full strength–just a wee bit. It was a very different experience–hot, intense, rich.
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