Side by side : Caol Ila Palo Cortado from James Eadie

Palo Cortado has been building a reputation over the last year or so as the 'new' thing in sherry cask matured or finished whisky.

In this blog I'll be looking at two Caol Ila's finished in Palo Cortado casks.

I've written a few times about Caol Ila here and here, suffice to say it produces some lovely maritime smoky whisky - your definitive bonfire on a beach stuff.

Palo Cortado isn't a new sherry, and it's not new to the whisky scene - I've tried at least 10 drams from this kind of cask over the years. Palo Cortado is a dry sherry fitting somewhere in-between Amontillado and Oloroso as explained here. Similar to Amontillado, it undergoes both biological and oxidative aging. However, where Amontillado sherry is intentionally fortified to kill off the flor, with Palo Cortado, the flor inexplicably disappears and it continues to age oxidatively. Only about 1–2% of grapes develop into Palo Cortados making them quite rare. Some companies blend Oloroso with Amontillado and call it Palo Cortado. 

James Eadie are an independent bottler, founded by Rupert Patrick in 2017, based in London, it sources casks from around Scotland. They then either bottle them either as small batch 46% easy drinkers, as cask strength single casks or finish them in their own casks.

James Eadie (1827-1904) was from a family of brewers in Blackford in Perthshire. In 1841, aged just 14, he moved to England to work for his uncle and in 1854 built the James Eadie Brewery on Cross Street in Burton-on-Trent. Aside from beer, the Eadie family had their own recipe for a Blended Scotch whisky. While the brewery was taken over by Bass in the 1930s, 'James Eadie's Special Old Scotch Whisky' lived on, as did its 'Gleneagles Blend'. By the 1960s however these names were beginning to fade. The whisky was no longer bottled and what dwindling stocks remained were soon only found in the family drinks cupboard. Only a few bottles of the original James Eadie whisky remain. Rupert Patrick is James's great-great-grandson, he used some original ledgers to recreate James Eadie's Trade Mark ‘X’ blend.

James Eadie have a bit of a thing for Palo Cortado finished Caol Ila. -  it was one of their first-ever releases back in 2018 and they've now bottled 6 casks, this 13yo is their oldest yet.. They wanted to try maturing Caol Ila in a Sherry cask that wouldn’t dominate it's lovely fresh coastal spirit, so didn’t want to use a Oloroso or PX cask. A short (5-6 months max for a first-fill, 6-12 months for refill) finish in Palo Cortado complements the spirit. with a combo of citrus and hint of biscuity richness - let's see what they are like!

Dram	2009 11yo Single Cask #354542	2008 13yo Single Cask #362139
Characteristics	56.5% ABV, NCF, Natural Colour 10+ years refill hogshead then 8 mths refill European Oak Palo Cortado Sherry Hogshead	56.5% ABV, NCF, Natural Colour 12+ years refill hogshead then 5 mths first fill European Oak Palo Cortado Sherry Hogshead
Bottler notes	None	None
My thoughts:
Appearance
	Light gold in the glass, swirls cling as a thick line, bead up slowly and fall as slow thick legs.	Mid gold in the glass, swirls cling as a thick line, bead up slowly and fall as slow thick legs.
Nose	As soon as you pour this the smoke starts filling the room - smoky bacon crisps and seaweed notes prevail. But this is Caol Ila so you'd expect that! There's some toffee, honey and a  little orange zest. This is dirty like a Ledaig, a little engine oil, the sherry influence comes through as old workshop notes, thick strawberry jam and dried fruit.	2 years longer in bourbon and a couple of months less in the sherry offers a different nose - the Caol Ila smoke, salt, sweetness and citrus are still here but the Ledaig notes have gone. This smells a little 'cleaner', the strawberry jam is a little more noticeable. The dried fruit is more prominent - more suited to Christmas dramming!
Palate	Thick syrupy arrival, baked apples, stuffed with dried fruit and smothered in honey. The toffee and strawberry jam from the nose are here along with a little citrus, some peppery spice and then a thick blanket of dry smoke covers everything. A little time and air offers maple syrup, fried bacon and a little of that Ledaig engine oil. Yummy!	Again a thick syrupy arrival, apples, raisins, honey, toffee and strawberry jam - but again this all feels a little 'cleaner', a little more refined. The smoky blanket is still dry but the smoke is less bacon and more salty seaweed - older Caol Ila seem to do that for me. The citrus is a bit more forward, lemon zest tickles at the tongue as the liquid disappears. The Christmas notes from the nose are here: sherry soaked dried fruit, nutmeg and cinnamon giving the spice. Yummy!
Finish	Long dry smoky finish with honey and peppery spice.	Lingering sweet honey, salty smoke and nutmeg.
Overall	Wow - two really nice drams! Caol Ila is a strange distillery for me - some I like, some I don't - it's not age, maturation style or finish that differentiates which list I put them on, some some are really nice 'bonfire on a beach' type drams and others are sweet peanut sweets - yuk! James Eadie have finished both of these in Palo Cortado, as I mentioned above, an unusual sherry but one we are seeing appear more often on whisky bottle labels. Both are relatively short finishes too - eight months and five months - but they have managed to cut through the Caol Ila spirit to offer an extra complexity of sherry notes - strawberry jam, dried fruit, Christmas spices. I got to try the 13yo as an 'under the counter' sample at this year's Southport Whisky Festival, was instantly hooked, and have been badgering Hugh & Leon at James Eadie for a release date ever since. I bought a bottle on the day it was released and there's only about 2 inches left in the bottom! If you search carefully one or both of these is still available, or like me you look eagerly look forward to their next release.

Many thanks to @GascoyneNick for the sample of the 10yo - I don't know how I missed buying a bottle of this!