Caol Ila 18-Year-Old Jazz Festival Edition 2025, The Guitarist - 52.8%

From the Diageo website 

Islay Jazz Festival returns this September, and for the first time in its decades-long history, has partnered with the Caol Ila Distillery. The partnership was created to celebrate the best of music and Scotch whisky across the island, offering fans a journey of discovery as they gather to enjoy music from some of Scotland’s most gifted performers at the island’s distilleries.
 
To mark the occasion, Caol Ila has released a unique festival edition bottling of its Single Malt Scotch Whisky — Caol Ila 18-Year-Old Jazz Festival Edition, The Guitarist. Created as part of a rare cask finish using toasted Scottish Oak cask ends, the whisky was first matured for 18 years in an American oak cask.

This year the Islay Jazz Festival release is an 18 Year Old from Caol Ila named 'The Guitarist'. This special limited edition bottling is the distillery's first Jazz Festival release. 

An 18 year old matured in American oak before a finish in rare Scottish oak cask ends. There’s layers of great sweet flavour intertwined with a bold peppery smokiness. Toffee apple and cinnamon appear alongside a subtle coastal influence. 

Tasting notes:

Appearance: Pale gold, forms a thin line which beads before falling as thick, oily legs

Nose: Soft, ashy smoke, lemon citrus and a touch of coastal air

Palate: Bonfire smoke, lemon zest, sea salt, Basil, soft caramel, mild flintiness, nutty oak, black pepper and cinnamon warmth. With water, caramel comes through more strongly at the expense of some of the woodiness

Finish: Astringent, woody oak, subtle smoke, mildly bitter herbs and black pepper

Overall: Caol Ila is one of those distilleries you can almost always depend on, so I had really high hopes for this 18 year old bottling. 

I had the opportunity to try this whisky on two separate occasions, once at the distillery and once with a sample I took away with me. Sadly, on both occasions, I found it to be really disappointing. The typical Caol Ila character is there but it feels muted and, as a result, the overall impression I was left with is of a lacklustre whisky. 

Now, that wouldn’t be so bad if this was a bog standard, sub-£50 supermarket shelf offering, but this is a whisky bottled to celebrate the Islay Jazz Festival with a premium price tag attached. I’m sure there will be plenty of people out there who have tried it and really enjoyed it, unfortunately I can’t count myself among them.