Gordon and MacPhail 2003 Connoisseurs Choice Caol Ila 14-Year-Old. 55.6% abv.

This is a review of the Gordon and MacPhail 2003 Connoisseurs Choice Caol Ila 14-Year-Old. 55.6% abv. £90 in the UK.

However, the article should really be subtitled:

"Everything you need to know about Independent Bottlings"

Let's start off with a question for you. Did you know that Tullibardine Whiskies are all Natural Colour and Non-Chill Filtered?

I didn’t think so! The problem is, they don’t tell anyone!

Two weeks ago I was in Scotland and one of the many distilleries which I visited was the little known or visited, Tullibardine, (despite them having a rather handsome visitor's centre).

Photo Cal McTravels

Whilst there I had a lovely chat with Jim, the sole person manning the place. Jim was very friendly and chatty. (I'm not sure whether this was because he enjoyed his work or had been trained really well, or whether it was because I was the first person who had walked through the door the entire day?) There we discussed their Ex-Bourbon expressions, that is, the NAS "Sovereign" and wonderful 20-Year-Old.

Jim did not dissagree with me when I expressed my view that the Sovereign was simply awful stuff but when I told him how much I had enjoyed the 20 Year-Old, he informed me that I had better grab another bottle before it was all gone as the distillery had completely run out of old stock and all the 20+ expressions were now discontinued! Looking at the prices in the centre, I commented that the price for the 20-Year-Old was actually slightly cheaper back home in Israel.

During our conversation, I remarked upon the deep golden brown colour of the 20-Year-Old and asked how much of this was caramel colouring? Jim looked at me, shaking his head from side to side and then informed me that in fact, all the whisky bottled at Tullibardine was natural colour and non-chill-filtered!

When I asked him why on earth they did not state this on the label, he looked at me in puzzlement and asked why it would be of any interest to anyone!? (He meant, anyone except crazy whisky geeks like me!).  I told him that, in my estimation, there is a rapidly growing market of more educated whisky drinkers who would be extremely interested in knowing these two details. In fact I told him that I was convinced that they would see a noticeable increase in sales if they would only state on their labels that their whiskies had no colouring in them and were not chill-filtered!

As I explained, faced with two similar bottles from lesser known distilleries, which the whisky punter is unfamiliar with, these two little details might well be the determining factor in deciding which bottle reaches the counter and which remained on the shelf. He said he would bring the issue up with his bosses. I hope he does.

All other things being equal, I most certainly do give priority when it comes to my purchasing power, to higher than the minimum ubiquitous 40-43% abv alcohol volume, natural colour and unchill filtered bottles.

Caol Ila Official Distillery Bottlings

I have however, (as many of you know), always had a soft spot when it comes to the standard Diageo official bottlings of Caol Ila, even though they probably all contain caramel colouring, are chill filtered and bottled at almost minimum legal 43% abv. Despite all this, the Caol Ila 12 YO and 18 YO remain on my top Five favourite “come-back-to” single malts. (The now sadly departed No Age Statement Cask Strength Caol Ila expression remains possibly the most delicious whisky I have ever tasted and owned. I do hope Diageo decide to re-releases this expression).

So, when I was last at the Caol Ila distillery back in 2017, I was really happy to see bottles of the "Distillery Exclusive" Cask Strength 2014 bottling released for the Islay Whisky "Feis Ile" (pronounced "Fiss-Eel"), festival edition.

Taking the bottle to the counter, I happened to remark that I was looking forward to drinking this. The saleswoman looked at me in astonishment and said that everyone buys these bottles as investments and certainly not to drink! (The bottle is still sitting on my shelf as I can’t bring myself to open it, thinking of the money I might be throwing away if I didn’t put it up for auction in a few years’ time).

By the way, I have never got on with the unpeated official bottlings, finding them astringent and lacking classic Caol Ila character. It’s like going to a famous steak restaurant and being offered a vegetarian meal. The distinctive coastal seaweed smoked lemon fruity Peat flavour is for me, what Caol Ila is all about.

So, taking advantage of the opportunity that my parents were coming to Israel for a simcha, I started looking around the UK online stores for an independent Cask Strength bottling of Caol Ila. It had to be bottled at cask strength of course, no colouring added, no chill filtering and have an age statement on it.

Eventually, I ended up purchasing the Caol Ila 14-Year-Old Single Cask 2003, Connoisseurs Choice (Gordon& MacPhail), NCF, NC and bottled at Cask strength from the “Masters of Malt” website.

One thing I really like about Independent bottlings is the amount of information they pack onto the label.

Maturation is from a refill American (Ex-Bourbon) American hogshead (250 L) which was filled in 2003. After 14 years, the cask ABV was down to 55.6%. They managed to get just 279 70cl bottles out of this cask when they bottled it on the 28^th June, 2018.

I realise of course that because independent bottlings by their very nature, are always one-offs, limited single cask bottles, so this cannot be my regular “do I recommend or not” type review, as the chances of you finding this exact same bottle online is pretty remote. However, I can give you a good idea of what to expect from this type of whisky as when one bottling is sold out, there is usually another similar one just around the corner.

A case in point: As of the time of writing this, I have just checked online at “Master of Malts” and “The Whisky Exchange” and although this particular bottling is long gone, there is a bottling currently available from the same series but from 2005, as well as two other similar bottlings.

Gordon & MacPhail

Most of the famous Blended Whisky brand names such as Dewars and Walkers, take their names from Scottish grocers around the late 19^th and early 20^th century. In those days, single malt whisky and grain whisky were delivered in casks to the grocers who sold them in pottery jars and later, glass bottles. These Grocers began to mix and blend their available stock and sell these "Blends" under their own store names, very often never giving the distillery of origin any credit at all. All the blending, bottling, marketing, branding and labels were done at the back of the grocers.

Gradually, the grocers began buying distilleries in order to secure regular supplies for their increasingly popular Scotch Blends. It is from these grocers that the big whisky companies were founded and developed into the Scotch Whisky Industry we know today. Distilleries who sell and market directly to the public was unheard of until the 1970s when the first bottled single malt brands began to appear.

Many of these large grocer stores continued to buy casks of whisky directly from a variety of distilleries but instead of blending them with cheaper grain alcohol in order to sell them as blends, they instead bottled them as "Single Malts", (that is 100% malted barley distilled whisky from a single distillery), but under their own brand names. It is these grocers who developed into independent bottling companies and it is argued, are responsible for the popularity of Single malts and the growing awareness that malt whisky from each distillery can have its own unique character, as opposed to Blends, which are all about ubiquitous consistency.

Gordon and MacPhail is one such grocer which developed into probably the most famous of all the independent bottling companies. Founded in Elgin in 1895, the company still exists today as a grocer but they are obviously most famous for their incredible collection of independently matured in their own warehouses, single cask malt whiskies.

Actually, Gordon and MacPhail do own their own distillery today. They bought and practically rebuilt Benromach distillery in Forres, back in 1993 and oversee all of their official bottlings very much to the high standards of their independent bottles.

Why should we be interested in Independent Bottlings?

1. The Silent Giants

There are a number of really good reasons. Firstly, Independent bottlings give us the opportunity to sample whiskies from distilleries who never or hardly ever bottle their own produce as single malts. despite the explosion in popularity of Single Malts, so many distilleries are still what we term "Silent Giants" with no visitor’s centre, producing millions of litres of single malt every year and all of it going into Blends for the parent whisky company.

The only way to get to taste the malt whisky coming off the stills at these distilleries is via Independent bottlers. Sometimes you are pleasantly surprised at just how delightful these whiskies are and wonder why the parent companies are wasting the financial opportunity of not producing their own official bottlings. Other times, you feel it is best they keep on filling the whisky into that well known Blend and remain silent….

2. Whisky in the Wild

The second reason to buy an independent bottling is to sample a single malt from a well-known distillery who do actually produce official bottlings but tend to bottle at the boring minimum alcohol level of 40% abv, add E150a caramel colouring and chill-filter the life out of the whisky. Independent bottlings, bottled at cask strength or higher alcohol levels, preserving the natural colour and obviously, not chill-filtered, give you the opportunity to taste a single malt which you may be very familiar with, "in the wild", that is, in its raw natural state.

WARNING!

I must warn you though. These independant bottlings are not for the newbie. You may be utterly delighted by your favourite whisky without, shall we say, with all its fancy makeup on, or you might find it so raw as to be utterly undrinkable. Independant bottlings are not known for being user-friendly "aproachable" whiskies! You need a lot of time and patience with these whiskies. It's a great adventure but also a bit of a gamble, especially when you consider that the typical independent bottling will set you back some £60 to £100!

3. A Blessing for the Kosher Consumer

Then there is a third reason to buy these bottlings. For the strictly Kosher consumer, independent bottlings offer a further advantage. There are far too many distilleries (and the number is unfortunately growing), where all their official bottlings are either wholly Ex-Sherry cask matured or spend most of their maturation in the far more abundant Ex-Bourbon barrels, but are then finished in Ex-Sherry before bottling. Consequently, those who are makpid like me,  not to drink whisky matured even partially in stam yeinum casks, we would never normally have the opportunity to sample spirit from these distilleries, if it were not for independent bottlers.

Baruch Hashem, almost all spirit distilled at these sherry monster producing distilleries, is available as single Ex-Bourbon, Rum or Virgin Oak cask matured bottlings from independent bottling companies.

A case in point is the Signatory Mortlach Single Malt bottling which I bought from "Masters of Malt" online, containing a marriage of two Ex-Bourbon hogsheads. Official bottlings of Mortlach are all heavily sherried. This is a shame as Mortlach is also known for its very unusual, completely non-typical Speyside distillation which unlike other Speysiders which are light, floral and fruity.

Mortlach on the other hand, is famous, or should I say, "infamous", for producing heavy, meaty and oily spirit and, to the amazement of its owners, has been attracting an increasing amount of aficionados, "people in the know", who are looking for something different. In fact, so brutishly full flavoured is Mortlach that it has earned the nickname of “Beast of Dufftown”. (Bli neder, I’ll upload a review of this Mortlach soon).

Gordon and MacPhail 2003 Connoisseurs Choice Caol Ila 14-Year-Old. 55.6% abv. £90 in the UK.

Let’s switch our attention back to this independent bottling of one of my favourites distilleries and afterwards, see how it compares with the 12-Year-Old official offering from Diageo, the owners of Caol Ila Distillery.

Packaging

I just love the package design. The overall quality of the frame style box is really high. Made from thick solid cardboard so as to be stylishly minimalist and yet completely functional as the bottle fits inside with almost no wobble whatsoever and makes a perfect protection for the bottle from knocks and bangs, (unlike the new Springbank bottlings I recently bought whose cardboard cases are very flimsy indeed and give hardly any protection at all). Moreover, that funky hard foam covered magnetic top that folds open gives it an elegant touch as well.

The Bottle shape is simply gorgeous and I really apreciate all that attention to detail with, for example, that embossed gold coin at the front, which gives it a refined and aristocratic touch without crossing the line into being over-the-top and kitschy.

The Colour of the whisky

The colour is a really lovely fresh bright sunshine chardonnay yellow which, being a 100% natural genuine colour, shows off the really high quality Bourbon Hogshead cask. Having imparted so much its colour into the spirit, it surely promises an equal amount of flavour transfer as well. At least, that's the hope.

Incidentally, the label also contains its own tasting notes:

“Layers of PEAT SMOKE and CURED MEAT aromas. Ripe BANANA flavours mingle with WARMING PEPPER and HERBAL nuances, finishing with long SMOKY tones”.

The question is though, what do I think?

My Notes upon first opening:

Nose

I broke the seal and popped the very substantial cork stopper and poured myself a first dram with great anticipation. This was, after all, my first entry into the world of independent bottling.

My initial reaction was not what I was expecting or hoping for at all! The first pour had a harsh raw spirit smell and was exceedingly prickly on the nose. This definitely needed some water before I could even dare to bring it near my my nose again!

I added a full teaspoon and let it sit for 10 minutes. The nose was still really astringent and uptight with only a whiff of peatiness. After a while, I began to pick up some fruitiness. Yellow apples, kiwi, unripe banana and burnt hay. A touch of honey and shortcake biscuit perhaps or was this just wishful thinking? Perhaps aromas of lightly salted butter and wheat grain cracker? After 30 minutes in the glass and yet more water added, this Caol Ila 14 was still as uptight, nervous and immature as a Bar Mitzvah boy about to lein his sedra in front of the whole shul.

Taste

Ignoring the overall flavour for a moment, mouth fill was really impressive with a lovely, slightly sweet perfumey fragrant oily body to it. Despite my difficulties with this whisky, the fact that it was non-chilled filtered and bottled at cask strength meant that the potential was certainly there.

As it stood at this moment in time, It was a pleasant enough dram but tasted more like a young 6-8 Year Old than a 14 Year Old Caol Ila and certainly not worth the nearly £90 it cost me!

Comparing this with the standard official Diageo distillery bottling 12 Year Old, the 12 YO showed much more spice and more expressive peat flavours with coastal smoke, lemon fruitiness and seaweed, sea water which were all absent from this independent bottling. These flavour notes are, in my opinion, classic character traits of Caol Ila but were only being hinted at with this independent bottling.

I put the bottle away at the back of the cabinet and kind of forgot about it for three months.

The Story continues, 3 months later...

Friday morning, I was rearranging my whisky cabinet yet again as my wife was complaining that it was looking a bit untidy. When I came upon this Caol Ila I decided to take it out and give it another go that night.

Nose.

We had brought in Shabbos early and after Kiddush and HaMotzei and some delicious chopped liver from Osher Ad, when it was still relatively light outside,  I onced again popped open the cork, and poured myself a moderate measure of this G&M into a Glencairn glass.

All anxiety quickly disappeared as I was immediately struck, (even before adding water), by this heavenly sweet, intensely smoky, yellow fruity aroma, like a meat and grilled fruit Barbeque on the beach. I added some water and gave it a gentle swirl. There was a distinct whiff of coastal sea spray, burning seaweed and bonfire smoke.

"Now, that's more like it!", I thought, with a big smile on my face.

I added a wee bit more water. Now on the nose I was getting lusciously sweet and sour honeyed chicken with pineapple chunks, stewed yellow apples, sultanas, tin peaches and grilled lemons.

Wow! This cannot be the same whisky, surely? I added some more water and noticed a further increase in fruitiness and honey softness magnified by five! Behind the now very recognisable classic Caol Ila smokiness, there were cinnamon sticks in black tea, cardamom and sweet smoked wood. None of these wood spices are particularly dominant as is befitting a refill Ex-Bourbon cask as stated on the label.

It is as if this Caol Ila has matured a further six years in three months!

Taste

Again, the word luscious comes to mind as I take some of this thick syrupy yellow nectar in my mouth and let it sit there. Loads of yellow fruits. Grilled melon, pineapple, ripe squashy bananas most definitely! Chunky yellow stewed Apples with sultanas and caramelised honey. Shortcake butter biscuits. Apple pie with moist pastry crust and custard. There are mild wood spices in the background.

Finish

The whisky coats the mouth with all these yellow honey fruit and grilled sour lemony richness but as it goes down, there is a slight twist as these fresh and tangy fruits are joined by a mild Salt-Beef style black peppercorn and other pickling spices, bitter-sweet seaweed, sea spray and dry wood spice like cinnamon sticks at the back of throat. Most delightful! The finish is honey sweet-sour lemony with dry spices and of a slightly more than medium length.

Comparison with the Official Caol Ila 12-Year-Old, 43%.

I poured myself a glass of the official bottling 12-Year-Old for a very interesting comparison session. Yes, they do share a common coastal grilled and slightly sour lemon and seaweed flavour. The 12-Year-old has an earthier and more up-front peat dominance. The Gordon and MacPhail 14-Year-Old is tangier and fresher. The sweet and sour yellow grilled smokey fruits and juicy meat are more apparent and in that sense, has more in common with the Caol Ila 18-Year-Old. The extra alcohol level and non-chill-filtering gives the 14-Year-Old more of a wholesome body mouth fill, which the 18-Year-Old lacks.

Conclusions

What a difference three months makes. I was bitterly disappointed with this independent bottling when it was first opened but as the bottom of the bottle was reached, I wished I had bought  a second one.

Even with the cork stopper on, an oxidisation process was taking place from the moment I broke the seal and popped the cork for the first time. This phenomenon is particularly prevalent with single cask single malts as opposed to carefully selected vattings of multiple casks. I am not a chemist and have no idea why this is, (Other than something to do with the process of oxidisation), yet it is really important for you to know that these whiskies do behave like this.

Do not give up on even a particularly harsh malt just after opening it. Don't dismiss them at first encounter. You need to have a lot of savlanut (patience) as we say, and give these unique and characterful but sometimes "difficult" whiskies a lot of time to settle down and show their full potential. (This is also, derech agav, good advice for those going out on Shiduchim).

The Gordon and MacPhail 14-Year-Old seems to sit somewhere between the 12 and 18 Year Old official bottlings as far as peat and fruitiness levels are concerned but offers much more in terms of body and mouth fill, and given enough time and patience, gives you a more enjoyable and rewarding experience. I would say like most things in life, you apreciate things a lot more if you have to work for it rather than it be handed to you on a "40% abv, NCF and E150a" plate!

I would say further that all those classical Caol Ila common flavours are more defined with the G&M bottle. I did feel however that the 18-Year old had a longer finish.

Enough of all this analysis. Out of the 12 and 18 Year olds and this Gordon and MacPhail 14-Year-old, which one did I most enjoy drinking? By the middle of the bottle, it was a pretty much a tie between teh 18-Year-Old and this G&M. Anyone who knows me would know how much I love Caol Ila so this is high praise indeed.

However, as the G&M bottle went from half full to quarter of a bottle, the 14-Year-Old seemed to be getting incrementally richer and more enjoyable, with more intensely rich fruits and complex flavours. So much so that when I finally squeezed the last few drops from this bottle, I was left with a profound sadness of something lost, never to return. It really was something quite unique and special.

Now, if you look at the Master of Malt site, (as mentioned above), they have sold out of these Vintage 2003 bottlings but they do have an almost identical Single Refill Bourbon 14-Year-Old from 2005. This is the thing with independent single cask bottlings. They are unique, one of a kind and I am sure that if I purchased the 2005 Gordon and MacPhail, it would have a significant flavour difference to this 2003. This is the magic of single cask malt whisky. Every cask tells its own story.