ralfy review 862 - Caol Ila 16yo 2002 @ 46%vol: (G&MacP) 

Can we have once a Ralfy guide to independent bottlers for beginners in one of your extras?! Thanks Ralfy for your entertaining and educational content.

It's strange to me that bottles should need to say non-chill filtered and/or natural color. Why should they have to say that they DIDN'T do something? To me it should be that if it is chill filtered or if color is added, those things should be required to be on the label, not the reverse.

Real passion is undeniable Ralfy. You can clearly tell when a malt has a spot in this man's heart. Hi from Arizona.

Thanks for the review, Ralfy. Caol Ila has a special place in my heart. It was the first distillery tour I ever took and the first peaty whisky I ever tried, and I fell in love immediately. That was a number of years ago, and still pouring a glass of Caol Ila is like meeting an old friend of whose conversation I never tire. Funny how one leisurely hour on an August morning can connect you to a place for a lifetime.

In the filums they say you don't find answers at the bottom of a whisky bottle. Wrong! Ralphy showed me that you find them in the top, middle and bottom. As long as it's kept quality and NOT too much 🖖

Need a dram of peated whisky, in New Jersey tonight. Dealing with a massive snowstorm.

Probably as articulate as you can get reviewing a malt. Ralphy, you are the master of judgement, information and description. This review was one of you finest and I thought you were going to give it a higher mark as you really, really seemed to enjoy the experience and the moment.

Thanks Ralfy, Great review once again. BTW I bought some Aultmore because of your show, and it was fantastic. Thankyou Maltmate

I just bought G&M's Caol Ila 13yo last week, you've got me excited now.

Hi Ralfy, again a very fine and entertaining review. Thank you. I love the way you explain a whisky. Caol Ila is a fantastic Islay whisky. Cheers from Germany.

Had to open my Distillers Edition Caol Ila to watch this episode! Need to track down some independent bottlings of Caol Ila!! =)

Happy to see a new review!! Is this the Caol Ila in Johnnie Walker Green Label!?

Caol Ila is my favorite Isla Scotch. I bought a nice 12 year old for the holidays. I am still working my way through it and enjoying the journey.

Fantastic review Ralfy! Agree with your thoughts on Caol Ila too.

We love you 💜 Ralfy!

As a state-side mostly-Bourbon drinker I feel a bit spoiled. Arificial color is prohibited for anything labelled "straight Bourbon" chill filtration is uncommon. Most of my bottles are at 45-50%abv and cost $40-50. So they are usually younger spirit, but. I just picked up a bottle from an independent distillery, 6 year old Kentucky straight bourbon, 50%abv no color no chill filtration produced with locally grown heritage corn/rye/barley. $45.

Another lovely review. Thank you for sharing your passion and knowledge!

Fair enough, Mr. Ralfy.

I have the same caol ila from g&m(connoisseurs choice 2002 16 years 1st fill bourbon barrel)... My bottling is CS punching in 54.9% Freaking delicious. Pairs well with after dinner seafood dishes. IMO

Thank you Ralfy! Great review!

Almost a year into drinking whisky in a "proper way"(into a proper glass with wee drop of water and try to get notes :D)... i'm still not liking or loving the smokey peated whiskies ralfy. Till now i have tried ardbeg 10, Laphroig 10, Taliskers 10 and caol ila 12. I absolutely love the lowland notes which are totally opposite from isle of islay whiskies.

Great review. Looking forward to superhero arms in the Extras, not just superhero hands. Take care everyone. -Alex

ralfy, Extras Suggestion: Peat ! All about it. How do peats from differint areas differ? Could there ever be a peat shortage? Could or can peat come from other parts of the world? How long do different bottlings dry the malt over peat smoke? etc etc etc

Whisky and cigars.. I'm already drooling

Another fantastic review (including a good tasting :-)) Seems like an interesting dram - Thanks as always, Ralfy! nBy the way - thoroughly enjoyed reading your book. Excellent stuff!

Hi Ralfy. Another wonderful and informative review from you. I really enjoyed it. But there's one thing that have been keeping me restless for quite long - the volume of your teaspoon. I'm living in Ukraine. Teaspoons are a part of everyday life here too. So in my whisky journey as I try to discover more and more from the whiskies I buy I became curious what the volume of my teaspoon is. To be sure how much water I add. In my investigation I used a regular plastic medical syringe. And it appeared that my teaspoons contain only 2 ml of water. Moreover, it turned out that my regular tablespoons do not contain 5 ml either. Almost but not whole 5 ml. And they are not dessert spoons. Of course, we live in different countries, but I'm far from a thought that teaspoons in Scotland are 2,5 times capacious than in Ukraine. I will really appreciate if you could dwell on this at least in reply. Thank you.

I definitely love Caol Ila but I find it a bit sleepy compared to some of the other Islay malts. I find Laphroaig and Ardbeg have a certain liveliness I appreciate along with my peat.

Love these reviews, why not natural colour naturally filtered? Non Chill filtered seems so clumsy. Just a thought.

I was definitely thinking over 90 based on the remarks!

Can't help but think a lot of these G&MacP bottlings often under-achieve somewhat..... but I suppose they were always moderately priced.

Got the malt mark in advance, cheers.

Im glad atleast some of the g&m stuff is at a higher strength

Hey, Whatever happened to Extras # 862, Whisky and Cigars. I was looking forward to that!

One more malt mention: Malthusiastic Knights of Malta

We no longer press the marketing button Ralfy. Big data and all that.

As far as Scotland is concerned, wild does not mean treeless. Wild means trees and what little remains of the Caledonian forest. The lack of trees is due to overgrazing by sheep and deer with no predators. Absolutely nothing "wild" about it. To put it another way, when it comes to nature, Scotland is 40% abv, chill filtered with added E150 to fool the ignorant

When I first try Ardbeg a few years ago, I found peated whisky not a thing I will enjoy. However, after review your vedio, I tried Bunnahabhain Toiteach last night and started to appreciate those oily, honey peated taste. Thank you for your introduction to peated whisky! P.S. Since Bunnahabhain Toiteach is no longer available, may I ask your expert knowledge for other honey, peated whisky that you would normally purchase?

ralfy, are people more critical when describing independent bottles on Whiskybase? i feel like i see more consistent high marks with official bottelings but i wonder if that has to do with the group of people that actually buys independent being more discerning...

It's half gone you can stop watching inside of 2 min..... Having watched to the end I don't understand the mark

I'm raising a glass to independent bottlers. Cheers

Hey Ralfy, will you review the Balblair 12?

Your description of G&M started sounding like that of a "corporate multinational". Can you explain the differences?

Ralfy, I've always fancied trying a Japanese whisky, any recommendations?

Are there any distilleries in Scotland making non-scotch whisky?

Malt mention: Malty Mythical Mega-fauna

Ralfy were were you a master blender ever before ??

Where I am coal ila 12 costs $90

What are your thoughts on neat whisky tasting glass?

DONALD?! MY name is Daniel, Ralphy! :D

FIRST! and malt mention: Milennial Malt Masticators

LMAO. Blurted out "boom" one second before you did.

Second