SMWS 53.231 Eat until I die

SMWS 53.231 Eat until I die, 19 YO, 59,3 %

Distillery 53 in the Scotch Malt Whisky Society (SMWS) index is Caol Ila. The SMWS 53.231 Eat until I die was released late 2015. It was distilled on 1996-09-03 and it was matured in a single refill ex-bourbon hogshead. The total outturn was 245 bottles.

The descriptive text from SMWS on the label reads as follows:

Hunger strikes! Sun dried tomatoes, Serrano ham and fresh tarragon. The taste was "super spicy", with smoked salmon sushi and wasabi. With water, sweet roast pork with crackling, hickory BBQ smoke, peanut brittle and a platter of mixed fruits.

So, let's see what that translates into in my world...

Nose (23/25): Rich, sweet peat! Wow, what a perfect 'nose-embrace' (did I just invent a word?). Bonfire on the beach, tomato vines, mild vanilla and soft fruity notes. A whiff of salty sea spray.

Taste (22/25): Spicy! Oh, yeah, they got that right. Richly peated, in fact surprisingly so after 19 years. Oily, rich, oily, rich, and oily...did I mention rich? Vanilla and a touch of oak here. The peat is sweet and a bit dirty. The BBQ reference is good.

Finish (22/25): Long and warm finish. Mellow peatiness that stays with you for very long. More sugary sweetness now, as the spices settle. Vanilla ice-cream with chocolate bits.

Balance (22/25): A perfectly balanced, and delightfully peaty dram from Caol Ila and SMWS.

Score (89/100)

Sláinte! - Thomas