PORT ASKAIG 33 YEARS TASTING NOTES
EYE
Gold
NOSE
Complex orchard, smoke, charred meat, citrus peels, honey and subtle spice, coastal notes, vanilla and oakiness.
PALATE
Complex fruit (orchard and tropical notes), heavier smoke, lemony citrus, honey, charred marshmallows, maritime/coastal notes and a richer, but still subtle spice and oakiness.
FINISH
Long -> Spice, smoke, citrus, orchard fruit and honey.
BALANCE, BODY & FEEL
Perfectly balanced, round full body and a slick oily feel.
ORT ASKAIG 33 YEARS REVIEW: OVERALL AND SCORE
This is an incredible 33-years-old Caol Ila… I mean, Port Askaig 33 Years. From aroma to finish it’s rich and heavy in a way that’s enticing and nuanced. The night I got to sit down and try this it was the first and last thing I drank and something I returned to throughout the night. Each time I did it had changed a bit and each time I revisited it something new showed up.
The aroma is crisp and refreshing while still managing to be dense and heavy; it’s not muddled. The palate isn’t quite as crisp and comes across heavier and oilier -losing some of its sharpness, but never becoming muddled or undefined. The finish is an elegant fade that returned to a crisp sharp profile. An excellent malt.
Hailing from “Islay’s largest distillery, situated just north of the village of Port Askaig” it’s not difficult to know where this Port Askaig 33 Years is from. It’s a single cask bottled for Impex Beverages and is only available in the USA. Aged entirely in an ex-Bourbon barrel it’s a pure representation of the beauty of old Caol Ila.
One common misconception is that Port Askaig is always from Caol Ila. They also source many of their releases from Bunnahabhain. I’ve read some rumors about sourcing from Laphroaig, Bowmore and even Bruichladdich, but they seem to be more conjecture than fact. Though what isn’t conjecture is how tasty this Scotch is which we’ll get into in the whisky review below!
