Caol Ila 9 Magic of the Cask (Whisky Exchange Show 2019) Review

Hi everyone,

A big attraction of the Whisky Exchange Show is the Whisky Exchange’s show bottlings. Last year there were some crackers, as well as cool holographic labels.

Of course, this year they had to go one better and do UV labels!

The theme was the magic of the cask and this Caol Ila was the only one I had the time to try. All are sold out anyway I think. Anyway, this Caol Ila was reportedly from a very old refill Sherry cask, having a name on the end that hadn’t been used for over 100 years. Yeah, very old Sherry cask then.

Caol Ila 9 Magic of the Cask 58.7%

Colour: Dark Gold

Body: Full

Nose: Lightly meaty, gristy malt, soft smoke and citrus, menthol, almost Ledaig or Ardbeggian character to it, quite light nose though.

Taste: Great arrival, zingy citrus, lime and lemon, great balance of smoke, malt, sweet honey, golden syrup, maple syrup, golden raisin, very oily.

Finish: Medium/Long length. Drying but sweet still, honey, butter, oils.

Released for the Whisky Exchange Show 2019. Really great, lovely balance of the oils and smoke with the citrus and sweet elements but too expensive for what it is IMO at £85. UV labels are expensive though!

81/100

Thanks for reading!

Updated Distillery Rankings

Scotch Review #795

Whisky Network Review #947

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 the Global 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.

Why is this here?

Ledaigathon: 1994 G&M, 20 Cadenhead's, SMWS 42.22 & 42.21, 2008 Archives Reviews

Hi everyone,

A while back, um, at the beginning of May, I was in Canada for work and was able to meet up with the wonderful people of the Toronto whisky society. What follows are reviews that are their fault.

Knowing that I loved Ledaig, they’d secured as many as they could and greeting me on the table were a row of them. Of course, I felt obliged to review them (Its a hard life sometimes), although I didn’t get to them all because I wanted to try other stuff too.

Thanks to everyone for an amazing night!

Ledaig 1994 Gordon & MacPhail 53.9%

Colour: Straw

Body: Medium

Nose: Ah yes, clearly not Ledaig just as we expected after the other 1994 G&M. Clean with ozone, salt, green apple and a little cheese, some seaweed, light on the complexity.

Taste: Soft then spicy, ginger and black pepper, salt coming in, dried seaweed, losing power into the finish.

Finish: Short length. Lacking power here, very soft salt, ill fitting dry oak. Doesn't really work.

Bottled 2012. Mislabelled Tobermory again. The second time I've had this from G&M which makes me distrust all early 90's Ledaig.

71/100

 

Ledaig 1997 Cadenhead's 52.8%

Colour: Gold

Body: Medium/Full

Nose: Lovely complexity of lemon, aged smoke, epically oily, buttery but also salt crusted sailing ropes, leather and a little green grape.

Taste: So so oily, salt and smoke building up, spicy black pepper, white pepper, great leather and chocolate coming in.

Finish: Long length. Power, white pepper, mineral smoke, a white wine thing going on which is cool.

Gold label, 20yo. Very similar to the 19yo that I have a bottle of, but I prefer that one by a point I think.

85/100

 

Ledaig 2006 42.22 SMWS 59.3%

Colour: Straw

Body: Full

Nose: Very clean nose, a little abv, pure salt and white pepper, lemon juice, not a huge amount there but very pure and clean.

Taste: Soft, then a great balance of pure salt and white pepper, lemon juice and stem ginger. Again, compelxity isn't massive but the balance and purity is super impressive.

Finish: Medium/Long length. Salty and spicy, stem ginger and white pepper.

9yo.

78/100

 

Ledaig 2006 42.21 SMWS 59.4%

Colour: Light Straw

Body: Medium/Full

Nose: Even cleaner and lighter... As in water. A tiny bit of green apple, a tiny bit of salt, Tequila.

Taste: Soft arrival, great saltiness, great balance again with the smoke, minerality, raw ginger and white pepper.

Finish: Medium length. Clean again, a little ginger and white pepper left.

I prefer the nose on this actually than the 42.22, but the taste isn't as good.

77/100

 

Ledaig 2008 Archives 60.9%

Colour: Gold

Body: Full

Nose: Dirty AF, burnt bacon, creamy vanilla, not a huge amount of smoke but a great balance, white german sausage, smoked sausage. Lots of sausage. Very savoury nose.

Taste: Clean arrival, great balance, salty, the Sherry comes through with dirty raisin, unami, bacon, so oily, mouthfeel for days.

Finish: Medium length. Creamy, sweet raisin and more overt peat.

Bottled 2016 I think, from a Sherry cask. Fan-fucking-tastic young Ledaig. Love it. Should have bought one when I had the chance.

84/100

Thanks for reading!

Updated Distillery Rankings

Scotch Reviews #779-#783

Whisky Network Reviews #924-#928

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.

Why is this here?

Springbank 9 Local Barley & Longrow 14 Sherry Reviews

Hi everyone,

We all love special releases of Springbank. We do. Don’t deny it.

One of the most popular of these has been the Local Barley releases of the last year or two and I was lucky enough to try the 16 and 11. The latest one, the 9, I have today, as well as a recent 14yo Longrow from Sherry casks.

Springbank 9 Local Barley 57.7%

Colour: Light Gold

Body: Medium/Full

Nose: More open than the previous two LB's. Freshly cut mango, some minerals, fresh lemon, fresh mint, the malt comes through well too, nicely balanced. White grapefruit and subtle smoke.

Taste: Intense, lovely arrival, fresh fruit, lemon and mango then more mineral and smoky as it develops, salt and lemon juice, soot, a little oak and crushed chalk.

Finish: Medium/Long length. Juicy lemon squeezed over salt crusted rocks.

2018 release. I prefer this one to the 16 I think. Its got none of the youth you might expect for this age although its still raw and powerful.

80/100

 

Longrow 14 Sherry 57.8%

Colour: Amber

Body: Full

Nose: Wonderful, complex, dirty and fruity. Leather and really intense coffee, dirty orange and pomegranate, chocolate and black pepper and soot. Lovely herbal notes as it opens up.

Taste: Intense arrival then soft, so so balanced, dirty orange and smoke, sweet Sherry, pomegranate and cranberry, black pepper, sea salt, oily mouthfeel.

Finish: Short/Medium length. Goes quite quick but the spices stay a little, black pepper and salt.

Bottled 2018. I was expecting a Sherry-smoke monster but it’s actually quite soft and light on the palate.

82/100

Updated Distillery Rankings

Thanks for reading!

Scotch Reviews #701-#702

Whisky Network Reviews #838-#839

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.

Why is this here?

The Winter Queen (Adelphi Fusion) Review

Hi everyone,

Travelling to The Netherlands last weekend I had one whisky on my mind I needed to try. This one.

I could tell you about Elizabeth Stuart, the eldest daughter of King James VI and Queen Anne of Denmark, but this whisky isn’t really about her, its about Adelphi blending some interesting whiskies together. Some of which were from Scotland and some of which were from The Netherlands. As such, it wasn’t much available here in the UK and therefore the mission to try this on its home turf.

A marriage of a barrel of Longmorn, a part of a Sherry butt of Glenrothes and two Sherry butts of Millstone with an age statement of 9 years, this doesn’t come cheap but neither did The Glover or E&K.

 

The Winter Queen Adelphi 52.7%

Colour: Redish Amber

Body: Medium/Full

Nose: Literally a Christmas cake. Literally. Fruit and nut and spice, textured and layered, raisin, brandy, cinnamon, AMAZING NOSE! Thick honey too.

Taste: Beautiful Sherry then soft with fruit and nut, then rye-like spice building, dry oak intruding, cinnamon, the Dutch imprint becomes more and more.

Finish: Long length. Sweet, fruit and nut, oak and that unmistakable Dutch spirit.

Oh so good on the nose! Almost as if it’s been blended just to sniff. The finish doesn't quite do it justice, with the Rye-like Dutch character unbalancing it a little more and more.

84/100

Thanks for reading!

Whisky Network Review #708

Network Average: 74.6

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.

Why is this here?

Knob Creek Single Barrel Review (And blind review video)

Hi everyone,

So… I did a thing. Dave’s Whisky Reviews has expanded slightly into the YouTube domain. And the idea is a little different in that I’ll be blind reviewing stuff and giving a guess as to what it is. Which is nothing new on Reddit but hasn’t really been done before on YouTube. The idea is to keep it fun, get some stuff hideously wrong and look like a bit of an idiot. You can check out my video on this one here. Let me know what you think!

Background with this was that I was visiting California and wanted to pick up my first bottle of Bourbon since Jim Beam White. (shudders) This being a good price and me not having tried it yet, it fit the bill pretty well.

 

Knob Creek 9 Single Barrel 60%

Colour: Bronze

Body: Full

Nose: A little funky, bags of nuts, peanut, macadamia, cashew, salted caramel, a little alcohol covering anything else.

Water: Softer and a little more complex. Nice caramel, toffee and vanilla. Honey, biscuit, salted peanuts.

Taste: Intense, almost a buttery mouthfeel to start (which is lovely), then it's drier, caramel, peanut, some alcohol, some funk, oak, more nut then with cashews and trail mix, and peanuts again, more and more peanuts. Some black pepper too in places with floral notes.

Water: Much softer arrival, nice balance to this one with honeycomb, soft black pepper, chilli flakes, caramel, cashew and peanut. Some oak and dry orange come in but never becomes too much.

Finish: Long length. More peanuts and oak comes through, not that spicy really. A little spicier with water.

A good one for 50 bucks! A few drops of water and it comes together. For me, I don’t think I could have done much better at this price point.

77/100

Thanks for reading!

American Review #55

Whisky Network Review #668

American Average: 69.5

Network Average: 74.7

Best Score: 93

Worst Score: 22

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 am sorry I can't say only nice things. Please keep in mind that I am ethically compromised and am unable to produce 100% unbiased reviews.

Why is this here?