🥃 Whisky Auctioneer

Not bad but lacking of punch and having a short finish

candied lemon, ash, iodine, not very complex and a bit watery but actually much better than I expected

Fill: see photo. I got this bottle for £33.60 in October of 2022. The back label has a Tesco copyright 1989, so this was probably bottled that year. The label's tasting notes mention peat and smoke, so we can probably rule out Bunna as they weren't using peat when this was distilled, Bruichladdich too. I've heard that late 1970s Ardbeg is atypical due to lower peating levels, with little produced and most going into blends, so Ardbeg will be unlikely. Port Ellen was producing at the time, but who has heard of undisclosed Port Ellen OBs for a supermarket? So that leaves Caol Ila, Bowmore, Lagavulin, and Laphroaig (and maybe Ardbeg). Caol Ila was the largest, so would make sense. I sent some samples to friends - so far one vote Ardbeg and one vote Caol Ila... And I will add a vote for Caol Ila, though I have previously leant (hopefully) towards Ardbeg. I do think this is a slightly atypical Caol Ila though, with the meaty bouillon especially. 86 - 87 points. I just tried a 17yr Caol Ila WB 111430 which should be 1978/77 distillate and the profile is similar enough, so Caol Ila is definitely my guess. :-)