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Tuesday 25 September 2018

Claxton's: Caol Ila 2012 & Dumbarton 31 Reviews

Hi everyone,

A whisky or two from Claxton’s, a fairly new independent bottler that seems to be doing quite well. I like their very squarish looking bottles, although we all know its what’s on the inside that counts…

Caol Ila 2012 Claxtons 57.2%
Colour: Straw
Body: Full
Nose: No NMS but coastal to 11! Mineral Kilchoman-like notes all over it, wet rocks and sea salt, lemon citrus, wonderful nose. Raw and powerful.
Taste: So soft, lacking a touch of power then big mineral Kilchoman-like notes again, seashore, salty.
Finish: Short length. Doesn't have a load of staying power. Lemon.
Kilchoman not from Kilchoman. Always amazed by Caol Ila's versatility and this is a great young selection.
74/100

Dumbarton 31 Claxtons ?abv?
Colour: Gold
Body: Medium
Nose: Great, creamy, vanilla, raspberry ripple, very soft oak.
Taste: Soft, very creamy, very nicely balanced, creamy vanilla, soft raspberry.
Finish: Long length. Some spice comes in, even more balanced, spicy white chocolate. Great.
Yet to be released. Lovely older grain. I am finding that Grain peaks that about this age, retaining the freshness but finding some complexity.
78/100

Thanks for reading!

Scotch Reviews #665-#666
Whisky Network Reviews #798-#799

Network Average: 75.1
Best Score: 94
Worst Score: 12
0-49 Terrible
50-59 Bad
60-64 Just About OK
65-69 Ok to Good
70-74 Good
75-79 Very Good
80-84 Excellent
85-89 Superb
90+ Magnificent

Full Disclosure Disclaimer: I currently work as a Brand Ambassador for Penderyn Distillery. The views expressed here are purely my own and do not reflect the views of Penderyn Distillery or The Welsh Whisky Company. I try to maintain as much objectivity as I can but feel free to take my reviews with as big a pinch of salt as you like. Furthermore, my rating scale is NOT based on a Parker type wine scoring scale or a school/college/university % or A-F grade score. You can find more on my scoring here. I apologise for any seemly low or 'bad' scores given with my system and I am sorry I can't say only nice things. Please keep in mind that I am ethically compromised and I am unable to produce 100% unbiased reviews.

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