Yula II – 21 Years Old – 52.3% abv

Info: Yula II 21 Years Old from Douglas Laing was released a year after the first Yula was released and becomes the second in a trilogy of limited editions.
Colour: Light summary gold.
Nose: Punchy and up front, the 21 years haven’t dulled this dram one bit. It’s full of bite, full of Islay coastal wind, salt and peat. Instantly you feel like you’re sat on a beach during a late summer’s evening storm, watching the waves go by. After a little while the nose settles and out comes floral peat notes, and a real cereal character.
Palate: Oily and relaxed, you find that up front you have damp mossy peat notes (Laphroaig?), sweet gentle floral peat notes and at the back some bassy engine oil. There’s also a cereal butteriness underlying everything as well.
Finish: The finish has some slight TCP notes, maybe a touch of a struck match and a fairly big hint of 1990s Bowmore (if you know what I mean! maybe the only bit of the dram that detracts for me personally, it’s slightly soapy). It’s sweet, gentle and really long with slow burning embers left dying gently.
Thoughts: A fabulous blend of older Islay malts going on here, if you’re a big Islay fan, then you need some of this in your life for sure, it’s awesome – as long as you don’t mind 1990’s floral Bowmore.
Available: Master of Malt – £101.80

Thanks to Douglas Laing for the sample.

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