Murray McDavid Caol Ila 13 yr Tokaji Wine Cask Single Malt Whiskey 700ml

This whisky comes from Murray McDavid, the independent bottler established in 1996 by London wine merchants Mark Reynier and Simon Coughlin along with Gordon Wright, formerly of Springbank Distillery. The trio built their name on adventurous cask finishing, particularly in fine wine casks, and after passing through Rémy Cointreau's ownership alongside Bruichladdich, the brand now operates from Coleburn Distillery in Speyside under new ownership, continuing its hands-on approach to maturation.

The spirit itself comes from Caol Ila, an Islay distillery known for producing a powerful, smoky malt that has long been a workhorse in blended Scotch. Distilled in 2009, the whisky spent most of its life in an ex-bourbon barrel before finishing for roughly eighteen months in an unusually sized, 130-liter cask that had previously held Tokaji, the celebrated Hungarian dessert wine. The combined maturation runs thirteen years, and the whisky was bottled at cask strength, around 55% ABV, without chill filtration or added color, from a single cask yielding a few hundred bottles.

The nose brings cured meat, smoky honey, and quince, with barbecued apricot notes layering in. The palate delivers grilled peach and tropical peated malt, closing with a rich, sweet-smoky finish of orchard fruit and campfire embers.