Whisky Review #48 | Caol Ila 17 Year Old Single Cask 56% ABV | Halcyon Spirits

I know it has been a while guys but here is my latest whisky review, a beautiful 17 year old single cask from the Caol Ila distillery, bottled by Halcyon Spirits. Hope you enjoy the review :)

[@-xirx-]

I have just seen this bottle, and I am extremely interested. It would be my most expensive purchase of whisky, but Caol Ila is my favourite. Thank you for reviewing

[@whiskyjourney175]

Thanks for your comment mate. Price wise it is a bit steep, but pretty much in line with other independent bottlers like Gordon & MacPhail etc. Definitely worth a purchase if you are a fan of Caol Ila. If you decide to get a bottle I am pretty certain you would not be disappointed. Cheers 🥃

[@-xirx-]

@whiskyjourney175 do you have a favourite IB of Caol ila or any to particular you know to be v.good please? I've got my eye on a rare cask, and G&M 2006 (wish I could find the 2000 thou!)

[@whiskyjourney175]

@@-xirx- I am not that familiar with IB of Caol Ila. A few years back I would regularly get the Elements Of Islay series. They bottled several Caol Ila expressions, most around 6-8 years old if my memory is right. Very competitively priced (around £60 or so) and all very enjoyable, albeit a tad youthful. Back then I could not afford more expensive expressions with more age, so these bottles were great to get my Caol Ila fix. Probably difficult to get now, but if you find any at around the price I mentioned you should definitely get a bottle - mind they only came in 50cl bottles, however I still think it was worth it at that price. This Halcyon Spirits bottle is obviously a different beast to the Elements Of Islay releases - more mature, less alcohol bite etc. I cannot speak regarding the Rare Cask and G&M bottles as I have never had them, but I don't think you could go wrong. Perhaps seek out a sample if you can before committing to an entire bottle - I know that is not always easy but it's a lot of money to spend. I got the Halcyon Spirits bottle based on the strength of their previous release (Burnside) which is excellent imo. Sometimes you have to take a punt and hope for the best lol. Don't know if I have really answered your question, but yeah the Elements Of Islay bottles were great value as far as IB go. Cheers 🥃

[@-xirx-]

@@whiskyjourney175 Thank you very much for taking the time to reply to me so helpfully, I appreciate it. I have seen the elements series, think they might have gone up in price quite a bit now (can point to their desirability), but didn't know anything about them before though, so thank you, I will investigate samples. Good luck with the channel! ✌

[@whiskyjourney175]

@@-xirx- Cheers mate and good luck with your investigations. Also keep an eye out for North Star Spirits Caol Ila offerings. Have had a few of them in the past and they have also been good quality at an affordable price. Cheers 🥃

[@thesanguinor-]

I don't know when i will next be up your way mate, and i know you are not a huge macallan/speyside whisky man, more of an islay and Campbelltown fellow, however i do have a Macallan Night on Earth and a Macallan -The Harmony, Amber Meadow I could loan if you wanted to do a review on them.

[@whiskyjourney175]

That would be really sweet mate, thank you. I would be privileged to review them. You can hit me up on IG (link is on my channel page) if/when you have the chance. Could do a sample swap or something like that - I am sure you would find something to enjoy in my collection that you have not tried. Thanks again bud 🥃