Zum Fèis Ìle 2019 gibt es natürlich von allen Destillerien auf Islay besondere Abfüllungen, auch Lagavulin und Caol Ila, beide zu Diageo gehörig, bilden da keine Ausnahme. Uns hat nun eine englischsprachige Pressemitteilung erreicht, die Details zu beiden Abfüllungen auflistet (sowie die Tasting Notes) und die wir gerne für Sie wiedergeben.
Wer die beiden Abfüllungen haben will und nicht nach Islay reist, der muss wohl Freunde, die zum Festival vor Ort sind, um Mitnahme bitten – oder wahrscheinlich deutlich höhere Preise am Sekundärmarkt bezahlen…:
LAGAVULIN™ and CAOL ILA™ launch limited edition 2019 Feis Ile Bottlings
Ahead of the 2019 Islay Festival of Music and Malt, Feis Ile, two limited edition Single Malt Scotch Whiskies will exclusively available from Lagavulin™ and Caol Ila™ distilleries. The much-anticipated annual congregation of world-wide Scotch lovers, will play host to a worldwide exclusive – two unique hand-picked expressions in limited edition batches.
Hand-selected by the distillery teams, the Distillery exclusive bottles are only available during the week of the festival. Each represents a precious part of the distillery’s rich heritage, and is a must for the distillery fans who make the pilgrimage to Islay just to taste these rare and collectable pieces. Rich in complexity, each whisky highlights the incredible versatility of the distillery, offering aficionados an exciting twist on the traditional expressions available at Lagavulin and Caol Ila.
The Lagavulin bottling has fruity and floral top notes, with elements of smoky Lapsang Souchong tea and mossy, green aromas rounding out the nose. On the palate, it has a peppery dryness, complimented by a rich, warming wood spice from the maturation of the whisky, lending itself to a fuller body and smooth mouthfeel. Final notes highlight the scotch’s confectionery-like sweetness from sherry-treated charred American oak, complemented by the opposing camp fire and seaweed smokiness on the finish.
Caol Ila distillery’s manager Pierrick Guilaume’s choice of festival offering this year contrastingly offers a distinctive nose of more tropical notes, followed by softer coconut from the American oak casks. Signature Caol Ila smokiness is layered with fresh floral and herbaceous mint elements, softer medicinal notes and finished with a dominant note of spice. An ideal choice for an aperitif, the whisky’s casks’ resulting vanilla and honey notes enrich the tropical fruit flavour on the palate, making way for the long coal smoke finish.
Lagavulin Feis Ile 2019 – 19 Years Old
The Lagavulin bottling has been matured in Refill Oak Casks and then sherry-treated freshly-charred American Oak Hogsheads before a final maturation in old European Oak puncheons. Hand-picked by Lagavulin’s esteemed distillery team the limited edition run of 6,000 bottles will be released with an ABV of 53.8%, and an RSP of £150. Available to purchase at Lagavulin distillery only.
Colin Gordon, Lagavulin Distillery Manager said,
“Feis Ile is our yearly celebration of music and single malt scotch whisky. It’s such an exciting time for us all on the Island and we always look forward to welcoming guests behind the scenes at Lagavulin. Each bottle represents a part of our story at the distillery and is extra special because it’s been chosen by everyone here – from the visitor center to the warehouse teams. We’re sure it will surprise and delight both the familiar and new faces at this years festival.”
Lagavulin Feis Ile 2019
RSP: £150
ABV: 53.8%
Available from: Lagavulin distillery
In brief…
Fruity, floral top notes, green, mossy aromas and smoky Lapsang. Good body with slight sweetness, notes of warming wood spice and a finish of smokiness.
Caol Ila Feis Ile 2019 – 22 Years Old
The Caol Ila festival bottling is an ode to the Feis Ile, with a limited edition run of 3,000 bottles at natural cask strength. Matured in sherry-treated freshly-charred American oak hogshead the whisky’s ABV sits at 58.4%, with an RSP of £130.
Available exclusively to purchase at Caol Ila distillery.
Pierrick Guilaume, Caol Ila Distillery Manager said,
“As with every bottle, a lot of careful thought has been put into our Feis Ile expression. We’ve taken the usual complexity of Caol Ila and used the cask influence to balance this, creating something really unique from our distillery. Everyone here is extreemly proud to share this with our guests at the festival this week and want them to enjoy a special piece of Islay’s heritage when they head home from our beautiful island.”
Caol Ila Feis Ile 2019
RSP: £130
ABV: 58.4%
Available from: Caol Ila distillery
In brief…
Tropical fruit nose with cask influences of coconut, honey and vanilla. Signature smokiness completed by fresh mint and citrus with spicy medicinal notes giving way to intense coal smokiness on the finish.
