The second Gordon & MacPhail exclusive celebrating the 20th anniversary of The Whisky Exchange is this Caol Ila 2005, bottled from a refill sherry hogshead.
Caol Ila 14 yo 2005 (54,5%, Gordon & MacPhail for The Whisky Exchange 20th Anniversary 2019, refill sherry hogshead #19/051, 142 btl.)
Nose: clean but surprisingly medicinal as well. Creosote, smoked bacon and iodine. Sweet lemon juice and cold ashes. Gets sweeter as it opens up, with vanilla cake and ginger syrup in the background.
Mouth: strong, showing plenty of medicinal peat again, ashes and oils, but now slightly richer due to the sweet notes. Yellow raisins, toffee and a hint of mocha. Light pepper, seaweed and tarry notes.
Finish: long, leafy, on liquorice and faint fruity notes.
Solid whisky, as expected, with the sherry adding some sweetness and plenty of leafy notes. However, compared to the other bottles, maybe not special enough a 20th anniversary? Exclusively available from The Whisky Exchange.