Wilson & Morgan Coal Ila 10 year old Cask Strength

HEY YEWWW…. JIMMAAAAHHH!!! Looking for a whisky that reeks like an over serviced hospital that’s been attacked with a tar bomb? A whisky that is uncompromising in its “I’ll have you Jimmy!” attitude – and may give you a Glaswegian kiss if you take your eyes off it for a second? A whisky that merely popping it’s cork will make your house smell like a salted asphalt truck blew up in it?

Well do we have whisky for YOU! An exclusive, cask strength, Italian independent bottling of an Islay monster!

So please, get outta the way, take cover or run! The Wilson and Morgan Coal Ila 2010 Cask Strength is charging right at you as our Members Extra for the month. And the only people in Australia it’s going to wreck is the members of the best not-so-little whisky club around. That’s right – the entire Australian allocation of this monster is available exclusively to us! But be quick – there’s not many!

We are proud to offer our ‘peat freaks’ something they can truly get their teeth into. There’s no ‘mildly peated’ here, no ‘hints of campfires past’ or ‘reminiscent of ‘ in this whisky. It’s a peat-forward, cask strength BEAST of a whisky that is gonnae molocate you! It’ll skelp you in the mouth, rattle your wallies and sneer as you buckle at the knees!

Distilled in 2010 and bottled last year, this is an offering from the Italian independent bottler Wilson and Morgan. Based in Treviso in northern Italy, they are one of the few independent bottlers of Scottish whisky that operate outside of Scotland. They specialise in buying single malt whisky casks from distillers and then continue the aging in the original cask – or transferring to different casks for ‘finishing’.

This is about as far away from the flavour profile of our Malt of the Month that is possible without actually entering space. This not-so-wee beastie is pure peat in a glass! At 60.1% ABV this a whisky that will blow your ‘I’ve bought over a Laga 16’ friends head off! It makes an Ardbeg look like a kitten! Kilkerran? – get out the way you wee bawbag!!

Peat forward in a big way, but an underlying sweetness balances this massive whisky nicely. It’s a peat freak’s wonderland!

Colour: ‘Typical’ Coal Ila pale straw in colour

Nose: Bandaids, iodine, coal fire and fresh bitumen, salty cured meats

Palate: WOAH! A massive peat blast with all those peaty treats, plus a side of lolly sweetness and notes of liquorice.

Finish: It’s no done with yew yet, Jimmy! A rollercoaster ride of smoke,  brine and iodine but that sweetness keeps it all rolling smoothly. It just goes on and on and on…

I absolutely LOVE this whisky. It’s everything I want in a big peated Islay. If you don’t like peat, this whisky certainly ain’t for you – even a bit! But if, like me, you are magnetically drawn to those wonderful, peaty notes you simply can’t miss this one!

Bottled at cask strength to preserve its sheer power, it’s an uncompromising Islay malt with all the fury of the sea and the deep, dark intensity of peat smoke.

Almost brutal if tasted straight, it offers a chewy body, and an explosive experience: plenty of liquorice, a dry attack of lemony rinds, and then an enveloping smokiness.

Tarry and very ashy, only for the brave. But try to slowly add a few drops of water until you reach your comfort zone… The untamed beast gradually becomes docile, unfolding an unexpected creamy background from the malt.

It remains rich and huge, with a thick mouthfeel, only sweeter and rounder, and the robust peat starts to show some delicately flowery and perfumed nuances: a gentle soul hidden in a monster.