Caol Ila week comes to a close with the oldest of the trio (see here for Monday’s 9 yo and here for Wednesday’s 11 yo). This 18 yo was also released by Gordon & Macphail but is from a single first-fill bourbon barrel. Let’s get right to it.

Caol Ila 18, 2001 (57.2%; Gordon & MacPhail; first-fill bourbon barrel 308901; from a bottle split)

Nose: The smoke is more woody than phenolic to open, with a fair bit of cream in there as well. On the second sniff there’s a meaty savouriness and some lemon and then the coastal notes begin to emerge: salt crystals, shells, kelp. The salt intensifies as it goes. With more time there’s roasted malt and charred oak. A few drops of water bring out even more of the char.

Palate: Comes in with the smoke, the salt and the sweet notes tightly intertwined. The smoke is not particularly phenolic here either. A good bite at full strength but approachable; thick texture. As it sits the cream gets more vanilla in it and there’s a fair bit of milky cocoa. Continues in this vein. Okay, let’s see what water does for it. It pushes the cocoa back a bit and brings out some phenols and some pepper; still quite sweet.

Finish: Long. It gets quite sweet as I swallow and then the salt builds. Sweet malt at the end; charred oak in the background throughout. More pepper here too with water.

Comments: The coastal character is much more apparent here than in the 11 yo. However, the greater cask contact in a barrel means the first-fill oak has a bit too much influence here as well, making it more one-dimensionally sweet than I would like. Not sure if that’s what damped the phenols down though.

Rating: 87 points.