Caol Ila 1990 Archives Review

Country: Scotland 

Region: Islay

Brand: Caol Ila 1990 (Archives)

Type: Single Malt Whisky

Age:  22 Years

ABV:  56.3 %

Date: 17/04/2013

Colour: Pale Straw/Chardonnay

Nose: Powerful with Nice Juicy Peat, a Wood Fire along the Sea Shore, Oak and Vanilla, Leather, Malt, Shellfish seasoned with Black Pepper and Lemon, Honey, Grass or Seaweed, light Iodine, Fruit (Apple) and Mineral tones. The Alcohol is there so you have to carefully move your Nose around it.  A bit of Sherry would have enhanced the sweetness of the Barley. Still, this is very good stuff!

Palate: Peat, (Cigarette/Light Cigar) Smoke, Smoked Salmon, Berries, Malt, Oak/Caramel, Wax, Honey, Aniseed, Lemon, Tobacco and light Metallic and Salty notes. 

Finish: Long and Tasty with Peat, light Cigar Smoke, Orange Liqueur, Oak/Vanilla, Black Pepper, Ashes, Caramel, Iodine and Mineral tones.

I added a bit of Water and the Alcohol influence on the Nose decreases of course. The Peat retreats somewhat and the Coastal - and Mineral  Aromas get stronger. More Malt as well. On the Palate and in the Finish, Wood and Spices come to the foreground and I get some Aniseed as well. You should certainly experiment with a bit of Water. Personally however, I prefer to sip this Caol Ila neat.

Rating: 89  

Nose: 22.5- Taste: 22  - Finish: 22 - Overall: 22.5

General Remarks: This Caol Ila 1990 is a special Anniversary Release by Archives. Archives is the relatively young own label of Independent Whisky Bottler Whiskybase.com. This whisky was distilled in November 1990 and bottled at Cask Strength in November 2012. It matured in an Ex-Bourbon Hogshead with the Cask Number 13121 out of which 130 bottles were obtained. This whisky was not coloured artificially and is un-chillfiltered. It is priced at around 125 US Dollars. 

Caol Ila is Gaelic for Sound of Islay (Islay Strait). From the Still House of the distillery you have a wonderful view on this Strait and the Isle of Jura. Caol Ila was founded in 1846, was rebuilt in 1974 and nowadays forms part of the Diageo Group. 

Drinking Experience Neat: Very Good

Conclusion: An excellent Islay Single Malt. Very Juicy Peat on the Powerful Nose accompanied by an array of Coastal aromas. The Palate and Finish follow the Nose while adding extra flavours. The Oak influence is very subdued and in balance with the other flavours despite the 22 years of Wood contact. I do believe this Caol Ila would have become even better with a Sherry Cask finishing. If you like peated Islays however, I can safely recommend this Caol Ila. What a pity I only had a small 25 ml. sample!

During the Tasting Session of the Caol Ila 1990 I decided to do a direct comparison with the Ardbeg 10, my favourite Single Malt so far. And I must admit that I liked the Caol Ila slightly better even though I'd scored it a bit lower. I therefore concluded that I scored the Ardbeg 10 too high. I've adjusted the score in the meantime and you can find the result here: Ardbeg 10. The main difference is in the Peat. In the Ardbeg, it smells young and rough. After the 12 extra years in the cask, the Caol Ila presents us with something I call Juicy Peat. It's the best way I can describe it. Lovely stuff. As a result of all this, the Ardbeg 10 lost its #1 position in my Complete Rankings of Reviewed Whiskies. It's still in the Top 6 though. Check out the complete list here:  Complete Rankings of Reviewed Whiskies. 

Jan van den Ende                                                                       April 2013

King Edgar Blended Scoth Whisky Review

Country: Scotland 

Brand: King Edgar

Type: Blended Scotch Whisky

Age: NAS (At Least 3 Years)

ABV: Unknown (My guess: 40%)

Date: 15/04/2013

Colour: Pale Straw/Light White Wine

Nose: Despite the fact that this whisky was probably bottled somewhere in the Seventies, it's still clear that it's a very young spirit. Harsh Grain Alcohol, Toasted Grain and Green Oak are the first impressions followed by light Floral tones (Grass), Wax and Lemon-Pepper. It's a very light Nose. I'm desperately searching for some additional aromas but...! Maybe a very distant hint of Green Apples or Unripe Pears. One of the weakest Noses I've encountered so far.

Palate: Unpleasant. Weak and Watery with some Sugary Sweet Artificially Lemon-Flavoured Candies, Menthol, Licorice, Grain Alcohol and Wood Spices.

Finish: Short and Candy Sweet in the beginning and Bitter towards the end with Licorice and Wood (Spices).

With some Water the Nose is reduced to harsh Alcohol while the Palate and Finish remind me of a low quality Cough Syrup. This isn't whisky anymore!

Rating: 62

Nose: 16.5 - Taste: 15 - Finish: 15  - Overall: 15.5 

General Remarks: The whisky I'm tasting today is part of a box containing six Blended Scotch Whisky samples produced somewhere between 1955 and 1980. They are all named after English and Scottish royalties. This box-set is sold by the Dutch based Rare Whisky Site (www.rarewhiskysite.com.) The King Edgar is still for sale at around 75 US Dollars. The Blend was elaborated and bottled by H. Stenham Ltd with offices in London and Glasgow. This company was founded in 1953 and apparently is still active as a family business, since 1996 under the name "the Premier Scotch Whisky Company Ltd".  Scottish Dance, Grand Scot, Highland Star, Glen Rankin and Old Arthur were other Brand Names for their Blends. Judging by the colour, I don't believe colourants were added to the King Edgar. I'm sure it is non chill-filtered.

Drinking Experience Neat: Unpleasant.

Conclusion: I must base my opinion on a small 25 ml. sample. So there's always the slight possibility that something went wrong along the way. But as it is, this was a very unpleasant tasting session. The King Edgar Blended Scotch is nearly undrinkable when you sip it neat and does not even qualify as a mixing Alcohol in my opinion. A waste of money!

Jan van den Ende                                                                           April 2013

Highland Park 12 Years Review

Country: Scotland 

Region: Highland-Island-Orkney

Brand: Highland Park

Type: Single Malt Whisky

Age: 12 Years

ABV:  40 % (UK Bottling)

Colour: Amber (No Colouring Added)

Nose: Relatively young with Sherry, Sweet Barley, Floral Tones (Heather, Grass), Orange, Honey, Light Peat, Buttered Toast and Marmalade, Salt, Creamy Milk with Banana and Apple Flavour, Raisins, Dried Apricots, Wood and Leather. There's some Alcohol to be found as well and perhaps a whiff of Sulphur and Varnish. It's almost like a plate of Creamy Milk with Breakfast Cereals, Dried Fruits and a sprinkle of Honey and Fruit-Fragrances. This Nose won't change the world but it's well-balanced and inoffensive.

Palate: An ABV of 40% does not do justice to this Single Malt. The delivery is simply too watery for my taste. It's also a bit disappointing after the pleasant enough Nose. I get Malt, Sherry, Floral Tones, Orange, Caramel/Butterscotch, Wood, light Peat/Smoke, Brown Sugar, Pepper, Burnt Nuts, slightly Bitter Cocoa Powder and light Varnish. 

Finish: Middle-Long with some Vanilla, Butterscotch, slightly Bitter Wood Shavings, Nuts and light Ashes.

I added a bit of Water and the Nose gets dominated by Sweet Grains and Bananas. The Palate becomes a bit Dusty and Earthy with light Smoke and Ashes. Better sip the HP 12 neat. 

Rating: 84

Nose: 22 - Taste: 20.5 - Finish: 20.5 - Overall: 21

General Remarks: Highland Park, founded in 1798, is the most northerly distillery in Scotland and is located on the Orkney Isles off the North-East coast of Scotland. The distillery uses local Orcadian Peat, that mostly consists of Heather and other Plants. Only a limited amount of the Malt is dried with Peat though. Highland Park mainly matures their spirits in Ex-sherry casks from both Spanish and, curiously, American Oak. Highland Park is one the very few remaining distilleries that malts (at least part of the) Barley on their own malting floor.The HP 12 years is chill-filtered and various batches are vatted before bottling to maintain consistency. The HP 12 costs on average around 50 US Dollars. The US Bottling has a more adequate ABV of 43%.

Drinking Experience Neat: Good

Conclusion: Not an easy one to judge. On the plus side there is the excellent Price-Quality ratio. It's also a nice bridge between Speyside and the lighter-peated Islays. And I quite like the Nose. It's not something special but it is well-balanced. None of the aromas seem to dominate. On the other hand, the Palate suffers from the too low (British) ABV of 40%. I also find the HP 12 a bit too balanced on the Palate. I miss a bit of character and I believe it would benefit from a longer maturation. So to sum it up, the HP 12 is a well-crafted Single Malt and I can understand that lots of people love sipping this stuff. Personally however, I would have liked to find a bit more Character and Personality in this spirit.

Jan van den Ende                                                                      April 13, 2013