In 2010, the Caol Ila 25 year old has been added to Caol Ila’s core range. A great addition if you ask me, and it got a lot of good reviews. But let’s go back in time. Several years before this addition, Caol Ila also introduced a limited edition of the 25 year old, bottled at cask strength. There were only two versions; one released in 2004, the other one a year later in 2005. And the latter is the one I will review today.

This Caol Ila 25 year old was distilled in 1979 and bottled in 2005 at 58,4% ABV.

Caol Ila 25 year old tasting notes:

Nose: Clean and sharp. With a hint of kippers, citric and it’s a bit mossy. Then sea-shells, dried shellfish, lineseed oil, a grapefruit and some lemon. It’s very fresh and vibrant, really nice! Some fishing nets / ropes and a touch of dried hemp. Yes I know how that smells. I am dutch, you know… 😉

Taste: Oh very nice! Citric tones with a hint of peat in the back. It’s much more fruity then the nose suggests. Lemon, grapefruits, but also some apples and pears. The fishing nets can be found here as well and a bit of herbs and hemp.

Finish: The finish is long and sweet, with fresh fruits like apples, pears and lemon. A hint of smoke too.

This is very, very nice! I love the maritime notes and citric aspects of this. And the fruit completes it all. What a great edition! I haven’t tried a more recent 25 year old from Caol Ila lately, but I would love to compare this version with a more recent one.