🥃 Whisky Auctioneer

Sugar cane, sweet tea, heather, not-so-good sulfur, honey, relatively green sulfur that's close to the flavor of firecrackers, and the aftertaste is better than nothing.

It's good, but it kinda misses some depth without some smoke for me.

Not my kind of whisky.

Nice, light. Quite okay. 61-70 – Okay, but not more than 1 dram

Tendency towards 86

Nose: fatty, on coconut, vanilla, honey, peppery spices, orange citrus with a candied petal, a distant smoky sensation, yes Mouth: excellent on earthy peat all the same and candied lemon, orange zest, sweet peaches, surely the wine barrel; honey, it's very fatty, rich and round Medium to long finish with malt, baked vanilla, dried seaweed, sweetness Thank you for letting him taste it as a bonus...

Airy nose, with a not-so-aggressive sea breeze, light wood, hazelnuts, quince jam, and a little honey. Green apples, brown sugar-filled biscuits. Brewer's yeast, white peaches, soft caramel. On the palate, On the palate, hazelnuts, espresso, soft caramel, licorice, dates. Very lively spices, then a mellow, long, rocky and fruity finish. Raisins, limestone, quartz, a few grains of salt, hawthorn, honeysuckle, chestnuts, and a touch of vanilla. Almond paste, woody reflections. What I like about Caol Ila is the peat, of course, but especially its coastal, salty character, its mineral intensity. Here, none of that, we have a pleasant, well-made product, with fruits and wood, hazelnuts, only a few mineral elements are revealed. https://ilikesky2020.blogspot.com/2025/03/caol-ila-11-yo-special-release-2024.html

Young and rich, not to say too winey. The aroma is young and bready, and the aftertaste clearly lingers with alcohol. 21 21 20 20

Beautiful fruity and nutty aroma, unfortunately the taste is worse. If I hadn't known it was Caol Ila, I would never have guessed. Overall, it's average, but it's unusual and that's why I'm glad I have the whole bottle.

This bottling is very interesting in terms of aroma. I like the aromas that remind me of roasted hazelnuts and cappuccino and that I haven't noticed in the bottlings of the past few years and actually in no other Caol Ila in this form. Barrel experiment successful, I would say... One downside for me, however, is that the alcohol comes across as quite sharp both on the nose and on the palate.

definitely needs time to open up in the nose. Otherwise the alcohol is stinging a lot. But once it has opened up it is very nice fruity Whisky. The distillery character is noticeable even without the peat. I enjoyed it.

I would have expected something different, unusually floral on the nose, but a bit bitter in the taste.

The rubber aftertaste is just mindblowing...

Pretty normal bourbon whisky, bit of fruit, bit of spices.

Caol Ila? Really? And really unpeated? The nose is unremarkable. This is followed by freshly cut grass and citrus fruits. I didn't particularly notice the wine barrel. The wood of the barrel (still with subtle wine) is noticeable in the finish. Not a dram for eternity, but an unpeated (?) Caol Ila is an interesting experience.

87.00 with small -

21.5+22+22+21.5

There's quite a lot of wood in the aftertaste which is a shame... because the whisky is otherwise beautifully sweet and sticky. Normally I don't like wine barrels. But this works for me.

A successful version of Caol Ila without smoke. Thanks to the wine barrel, however, the maritime aromas are no longer present. Still not bad. I would treat myself to a bottle for 60 euros.

Aroma: mineral, marine, vanilla, slightly smoky, ripe apples and peaches, grapes, rosewood, Flavor: grapes, apples, peaches, smoky, mineral, vanilla, marine Finish: smoky-marine Rating: 4

Caol Ila without peat. The bourbon flavor is prominent. Quite interesting.

Definitely a very different Caol Ila, but also definitely a really nice Caol Ila. The comparison with Ambrosia is not so bad. I recommend adding a few drops of water to this bottling. For me, it was a wonderful taste experience and definitely worth the price I paid.

The nose, taste, and finish are not aligned. It is like drinking 3 different whiskies. In my opinion, the overall experience is not worth 100 Euros.

Between 87-88 p. This is a fun malt if you know what you're in for and d'accord with it. I like non-peated Caol Ilas, and after a bunch of Speysiders/Highlanders preceeding this one, it came across as clearly coastal and expressively umami on the mid palate. I'd guess the wine cask somehow buffed this experience. It is neither a complexity monster nor the queen of elegance but you get what you bargain for. Just hopefully nobody leaves nonsensical comments about "missing smokiness" like in some previous cases of non-peated Ila (not saying you can't prefer "normal Ilas" over these, of course) XD. Worth a try, just too expensive imho, but for 70 EUR I might be tempted to get a whole bottle.

It was too bitter; the only bright spot was a hint of green apple flavor in the middle and later stages.

I was expecting a completely Unpeated whisky but this one has faint but clear smoky notes in its aroma. At first it was a bit harsh in its aroma but it softened over time. I actually quite liked the distinct sea, salty notes along with the vanilla-whipped sweetness. Towards the end, some wine-spicy notes also appeared. The taste is pleasantly sweet, apple, candy with a hint of sweet champagne. The finish is medium long and turns bitter. The ABV content is very indicative of it. I liked this whisky! Well done

Caol Ila 11 years, Diageo Special Release 2024, unpeated, 57.3% alc. Aging: Refilled and reconditioned wine barrels Nose: Pear compote with gooseberry tart, the Caol Ila starts off beautifully fruity. There are also mineral aromas of slate and flint, followed by beeswax and a hint of vanilla sugar. I also smell a lovely mixture of shell limestone, walnuts and wood dust. Palate: Grapes and gooseberries, blackberry jam, cloves and roasted almonds, followed by hazelnuts in caramel, black pepper and a pinch of nutmeg. Some coffee and cocoa in the background. Finish: Medium to long, dark chocolate, espresso, shell lime and various fruit aromas. Conclusion: When I read unpeated Caol Ila I was initially happy, then came the thing with the wine barrels, which usually don't appeal to me at all. But here everything is just right, a really nice thing. 88/100 points (2024)

2025-06-22

I don't really warm to it. The nose is relatively fruity and spicy and suggests a solid ExBC malt. The wine barrels are subtle in taste, which doesn't necessarily improve it. The finish is relatively short despite being 11 years old, followed by an afterburner with a note of rotten wood, which really brings down the overall experience. It's worth trying, but definitely not for the price. I'm glad I only got a sample here.

Open for months and it shows. Buttery, nutty, spice, honey, creamy and tropical fruits. Ex wine casks for 11 years, which makes it all the more remarkable because I find wine casks usually detracts. Perhaps this is another one that gets better after being open, although I liked it from the start. Tastes more like a Speyside than Islay. It has a long buttery finish. Somehow enhanced by the wine casks, but they were refill and rejuvenated. Typical Caol Ila maritime flavor substituted by these casks. Very smart! This may be an unpeated Caol Ila, but I find flowery flavor still present, which is why I give it high marks. I tend to ignore where a particular bottle came from and put my opinion based on taste, not provenance. No change in opinion. I really like this Caol Ila, based on long aftertaste, no peat, but a heathery overlay and distillery character.

I didn't expect it from Caol Ila honestly. I do not recall if I had another unpeated version before, but this one is absolutely not for me. Sharp, almost on the edge of odd off-notes. In the nose there is a strange mix of young malt, green grass or freshly cut branches and weird wine. The taste surprises with too much tartness and oak. My guess is that wine finish was supposed to enrich very old "tired" casks. But how did it end up in flagman series of Diageo? They could not find anything better? Whiskybase scores raise my brows even higher - did we all taste the same whisky?

Sampled at Distillery. Pretty standard bourbon cask whisky, spicy vanilla’s, quite harsh. Nutty barley and peppery finish.

Yes some Caol Ila characteristics present but weak layer and quite artificial sweetness

What a total waste of such unique spirit – unpeated Caol Ila. Total red flag from me on this one. The whisky is as it should be, balanced and all, which means the thing you are drinking was created intentionally. Why one would willingly drown this particular spirit in wine casks, is truly beyond me. Reading some comments on Whiskybase, someone says “No purchase recommendation to speak off!” and still scores it 85 points. That must be a mistake.

Fruity, sweet, medium long finish

It's an unusual but interesting dram - quite unlike the previous unpeated Caol Ila Releases - which were much more about spirit character. This has much more cask influence. N: Barley. Malt. Green Apple. Marmite. Brown Bread. Fermenting Beer. Nutmeg. Cinnamon. Muselli. Brown. P: Fruit. Apple. Pear. Yeast. Malt. Berries Nuts. Sour. Char. F: Toasty. Cigars (Unsmoked). Vanilla. Wine. Berries. Nutty. Sour. Char.

Unsmoked Caol Ila. Not very common, I'm looking forward to it. Similar in type to Mortlach from this Special Release series. Vegetative, pungent, clay, potato tops, alcohol. Pleasantly sweet in taste, chili spicy. Slightly bitter in the aftertaste. Overall, a very pleasant whisky. I liked it, I was happy to taste it.

Reminds me of a nuttier and muddier Longmorn.

I find it hard to classify; aromas are hard to pinpoint these days. What I can say, however, is that I like it a lot. Aromatic, powerful, maritime, and yet I still get the minerality of Caol Ila. Great.

aroma: soft, smooth, wine taste: strong, harsh, wine, wood Smokeless Caol Ila, it's not bad, but I didn't fall for it that much

This one is fun because it has everything that a peated CI does not have.

The aroma greets with obvious fermentation, barley-wort notes, technical motives, oil and black pepper. Next come lemon zest, bitter chocolate and bread crusts. After the sample breathes, metallic shades and burnt sugar appear. The taste is also barley, sweet and fermented, somewhat reminiscent of beer. In many ways, it duplicates the nose: everything listed in the aroma is also present in the sip. The aftertaste continues the barley theme, which is complemented by vanilla and tannins. If seeing the word "non-smoky" you remembered the extremely successful releases in 15 and 18 years, then in this sample you will not find anything similar. Although the experiment turned out to be interesting.

For my taste it is weirdly good, full, oily and with interesting fermented notes. Could be a bit softer, didn't get much better with water.

An astonishing dram, if they wanted to surprise with an unexpected Caol Ila they have succeeded in full: rich, multifaceted, multi-coloured and damn drinkable. The other releases will have to work really hard to keep up…

I poured a little Caol Ila Special Releases (wb id: 177581) from 2015 for comparison, and they are not on the same track. In the past two years, Diageo Special Releases series has changed from elegant to bold, and the style adjustments of Caol Ila and Lagavulin are almost the same, which I don’t like very much.

Great, not typical Caol Ila! Milky, Smokey in the very back. Condensed milk.

Uisge tasting 2026. I'm not a big fan of Caol Ila myself, but this one without smoke is a must. It really hit my taste buds, good.

This definitelly something different than typical Caol Ila , you can smell and taste it immediatelly, but very suprised how strange but also on the same time how good it was. I probably increase my score just because it is something special special from Caol Ila.

Was the surprise of the evening. The high alcohol content was wonderfully integrated / lots of floral notes, sea butter, light salt and smoke flavors and a nutty finish.

In fact it's 86 points, but in my heart it's 90! Very unique whisky! Beer aftertaste and taste, IPA, fruit beer!

Caol Ila is a bit overpriced. I wouldn't buy it for more than €70. Sure, unpeated and Caol Ila are a bit unusual, to say the least. But they've proven time and again that they can do it.

When I opened this 6 months ago it was awful. Very sharp, rubbery, peppery and not very aromatic. Had 2-3 drams and left it there. Now though after it's been sitting for a while it has changed. It smells fresh, sweet and has the scent of rivesaltes and sauternes wine. If you have this bottle and hate it; open it, have a few drams and give it some time. There's a good mouthfeel, its oily and coastal as can be expected. It's very bourboncask like in the way it presents itself. There is honey, slight pepper, but also Apple and sweet wine. It is layered and interesting and no longer has any of the rubber taste it had when new.

The whisky of December 21st from the advent calendar 2024. The scent is light, fruity, sweet, summery with the familiar caol ila in the background. The taste has coffee, cocoa, chocolate and fruit. Very tasty!

This is an ambiguous kuila. Can this be called a kuila? A moderate wine, a moderate spirit, this drink is in the realm of ambiguity.

A quite suprising Caol Ila, he's supposed to be non-peaty, but still has traces presumably courtesy of facility contsmination during production. nose: nutty, fruity, faint peat palet: caramel and a little saltyness coming through Finish: Gets a second surge of said flavours stays for long and coats the entire mouth. A fine and slightly different Caol Ila. He goes incredibly well with fat and bitter desserts like tiramisù, because the sweetness binds the flavours together. I did so recently at a tasting with Diageo Ambassador of Northern Europe, Michael Lundén.

Caol Ila 11 Unpeated - ambrosial feast 57.3% Ex-Bourbon / Ex-Redwine Cask 3.8/5 points Nose: Caol Ila-typical lemon Vanilla Subtle red fruits raspberry pomegranate sharpness young oak grapes malt Minimal herbs With water: More sharpness Then more vanilla Palate: alcoholic spiciness Metallic pomegranate Vanilla Yeast red wine touch Light oak wood lemon More vanilla notes With water: Milder, more vanilla Peppery, light sizzling Finish: short to medium Young oak wood lemon bitter almond Comment: After a few years of absence, the Caol Ila 11y unpeated takes on a difficult legacy. The nose is pleasing, typical Caol Ila lemon dominates, backed by raspberries and pomegranate. Unfortunately, the finish in ex-red wine casks seems to have been too short, the raspberry/ Pomegranate aromas remain too weak. The relatively young age of 11 years is evident on the palate, the malt is sharp and slightly metallic at first. Otherwise typical ex-bourbon aromas, only a minimal trace of red wine. The sharpness levels off when water is added, the red wine influence disappears. completely. The finish is short to medium long and simply unspectacular. The overall composition is fine per se, but does not generate a storm of enthusiasm. Clearly too weak for the 100 euros asked for, especially in comparison to older Caol Ila Unpeated bottlings. 3.8/5 points