{"id":109,"date":"2007-02-02T17:23:01","date_gmt":"2007-02-02T22:23:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/keepersofthequaich.org\/?p=109"},"modified":"2007-02-04T11:54:06","modified_gmt":"2007-02-04T16:54:06","slug":"caol-ila-18-professional-assessment","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/keepersofthequaich.org\/?p=109","title":{"rendered":"Caol Ila 18 professional assessment <\/font>"},"content":{"rendered":"

I found a couple of pundits’ reviews of Caol Ila 18 which I reproduce here the day before our tasting. Beneath that, I thought it might be interesting to distill a common view out of that wind.<\/p>\n

Michael Jackson <\/em>– rates Caol Ila 18 an 8.5<\/font><\/p>\n

Nose<\/strong>
\nFragrant. Menthol. Markedly Vegetal. Vanilla pod. Creamy.<\/p>\n

Palate<\/strong>
\nFirmer. Much bigger. Much more expressive. Sweeter. Leafy sweetness. Spring greens. Crushed almonds. Rooty, cedary.<\/p>\n

Finish<\/strong>
\nSome peaty bitterness. Big. Long, warming.<\/p>\n

Comment<\/strong>
\nThe most vegetal and assertive of the three expressions. Lots of contribution from the wood.<\/p>\n

Dave Broom<\/em>– rates Caol Ila 18 a 7.25<\/font><\/p>\n

Nose<\/strong>
\nDarker in colour, some vanilla and a heavy floral note (bluebell). Light oaky notes, orange\/lemon and some smoke.<\/p>\n

Palate<\/strong>
\nRounded and quite sweet to start then begins to dry in the centre. Good weight. Some oak.<\/p>\n

Finish<\/strong>
\nLightly smoky and herbal (dried thyme).<\/p>\n

Comment<\/strong>
\nDry, crisp and mature with more of a contribution from the cask (not OTT though).<\/p>\n

What observations of Caol Ila 18 did these two pundits agree on (if anything)?<\/em><\/font><\/p>\n

Nose<\/strong>
\nJackson always seems to me to throw as many descriptors as possible up and hope that maybe one sticks. He does not disappoint here with his all-over-the-map description. <\/p>\n

Look for some “vanilla” here as both observers noted it. Jackson thought there was a vegetative influence on the nose, however, I don’t think he had Broom’s mixture of bluebells and citrus specifically in mind.<\/p>\n

Palate<\/strong>
\nOur experts seem in alignment on the palate. Look, perhaps, for a broad, sweet flavor to this whisky. They both seem to think there is some kind of arborial influence. They just can’t seem to agree on the species – one thinks cedar the other oak.<\/p>\n

Finish<\/strong>
\nThe two descriptions of finish share nothing in common unless you happen to think that thyme is a smoky herbal contributor. I suspect it might have a big finish to it though.<\/p>\n

Comment<\/strong>
\nLooks like an interesting experience ahead for those of us who are “palate guys”. Caol Ila 18 looks to make an impression. I’ll be interested to see what it’s like.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I found a couple of pundits’ reviews of Caol Ila 18 which I reproduce here the day before our tasting. Beneath that, I thought it might be interesting to distill a common view out of that wind. Michael Jackson – rates Caol Ila 18 an 8.5 Nose Fragrant. Menthol. Markedly Vegetal. Vanilla pod. Creamy. Palate […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/keepersofthequaich.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/109"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/keepersofthequaich.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/keepersofthequaich.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/keepersofthequaich.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/keepersofthequaich.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=109"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/keepersofthequaich.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/109\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/keepersofthequaich.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=109"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/keepersofthequaich.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=109"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/keepersofthequaich.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=109"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}