Caol Ila 8yo Tawny Port
Murray McDavid Cask Partnership Series | 55.9% ABV
Score: 6/10
Good stuff.
TL;DR
Good enough to make me reconsider my opinions on ‘special casks’
Rainy Day People
The first association when I nosed this whisky was as follows: it smells like walking over a field that has been rained on for a couple of days. My foot gets stuck in the mud. I pick it up and smell the fresh, churned-up, raw earth. I don’t know where this wild association came from. Also, I couldn’t really find it again later in the whisky.
Also, I don’t think I’ve ever actually stuck my nose into a piece of earth, but I must have walked through enough wet fields and forests to leave an olfactory impression somewhere in my subconscious that came up at this point.
In my experience, rainy days, and consequently wet - if not completely soaked ground, are tightly intertwined with the life of the sophisticated fly fisher. Some of the best hatches of mayflies throughout the day happen, at least in my latitudes, on a mild day, after some heavy rain, under heavy cloud cover, with the extremely occasional ray of sunshine. Because I am always anxious about missing this, sometimes very short, period of prolific insect activity, I often find myself in the riverside hours before the actual happening, smoking.
It’s pretty hard to roll a cigarette with wet hands and constant drops from your hood, so I learned that it is better to buy pre-rolled ones to pass the time while waiting. But to get to the point; sitting on a stone close to the river and staring at the water like there’s a prize to win, you first have to get through what I call the rainy day people walk.
I learned from my very early days of fishing that the further you walk from any point that can be approached by a car, the better the fishing gets. So when I find the time and the conditions are right, I take a forty-five-minute walk in the pouring rain through a dense forest, always along, but not always in sight of, the river. I walk until I reach a piece of the river that is named after a flower, a precious dry fly paradise only known by the locals. Surely I would find my grave in the river if I named the place here.
I rarely feel the lushness, the abundance and richness of colour, the sound and smell of nature as intensely as I do during these minutes walking. Everything seems to grow, to make sounds and to scream for the attention of the over-stimulated human mind that, today, is not used to such a vast number of impressions outside of the digital world.
The river fights to be heard over the falling rain on the leaves, the bushes bend under the weight of the drops and the spring leaves take on such intense colors that even naturalist artists would turn green with envy.
And despite all these sensations, there is a deep, calm feeling that overcomes me every time I walk through this forest in the rain. This finally brings me to my Rainy Day People.
The Rainy Day People observation is, obviously in the spirit of serious science, supported by countless walks to said fly fishing spot and a handful of exchanges with the few people I met on these walks. It is important to understand that the people I encountered actually chose to be out there in this kind of heavy weather.
They were not running to a bus station or commuting home from the office. Of their own free will, they put themselves out there in the middle of the forest on the darkest of days and in the heaviest of weather. And, here’s the thing: all these people, without a single exception, had a big smile on their faces. They greeted me from far away and then again as we got closer, and somehow, every time, a long or short conversation started.
These were all the most beautiful and kind people; not judged by their looks, but by their presence, their warmth and their big smiles. Rainy Day People. Not as Gordon Lightfoot represented them, in his amazing song of the same name - as people who know sadness and struggles and are therefore supportive of you. Rainy Day People as Rainy Day People. Naturally, we become allies in the forest, finding peace in the midst of the storm.
Review
Caol Ila 8yo, Murray McDavid Cask Partnership Series, Murça Tawny Port Cask Finish, 2018/2026, 55.9% ABV
€45 paid (£40) & possibly still some availability
I have been reluctant for a long time to buy whiskies that have been finished in ‘special casks’. I somehow always had the misconception that they would flavor a whisky too unnaturally and drown its characteristics or, worse, their flaws. When I visited a whisky store in Austria, close to the border, that I frequent when I am in Switzerland, the owner gave me a couple of new whiskies to try without showing me the bottles.
I instantly loved this Caol Ila Murça Tawny Port Cask Finish (what a name), and was surprised when I read the label. This one truly marries the best of both worlds; the sweet notes of port wine with the coastal, peaty Caol Ila.
Score: 6/10
Good stuff.
TL;DR
Good enough to make me reconsider my opinions on ‘special casks’
Nose
The influences of both the classic Caol Ila and the port finish are very prominent. I find it very easy to wire my brain to either find the sweet, orange citrusy and berries-slightly-past-their-best-before-date notes of the port cask, or the very peaty, dry-salted beef, old harbour notes of the Caol Ila. But they rarely marry together.
I also frequently get an aroma of an attic filled with old books - slightly musty.
Palate
What was very easy to separate on the nose now all comes together in a swirl of competing tastes. Competing not because they fight for attention, but because they are inherently very different from each other. Starting with some sweet wood, sugar and candied oranges, a split-second later fresh peat, mixed with maritime notes.
I find the maritime notes somehow almost slightly sterile, like tasting a sip of harbour water from a lab. Not in a negative way. It just feels very clean. The attic filled with books returns every time towards the end, but it has come alive and caught fire, and it’s sprinkled with peat-salt. The peat lingers around on the palate long after the dram has been finished.
The Dregs
I recommend this whisky to anyone who would like to explore new aspects of an old friend. The economics of today’s whisky environment have made it affordable to taste different expressions bottled at cask strength for a very good price.
Although I am still not an advocate of strong whisky finishes, I think it’s really worth putting one’s own reservations aside and occasionally seeing what can be achieved by using ‘special casks’.
This very nice bottle is a perfect fit for taking along on a walk through a dense forest, even in wet weather. With its reasonable price tag, it’s the perfect companion for the Rainy Day People and that kind of adventure.
Score: 6/10
Tried this? Share your thoughts in the comments below. KF
This article is a Friday First: a debut piece for Kenzie. We hope you’ll join us in welcoming him into the Dramface community in the comments below…
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What are your own personal top distilleries?
At the point of this article’s publication, Caol Ila currently sits in position #20 in the Dramface Top 40.
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