Thompson Bros Caol Ila 2010 15 Year Old & Thompson Bros Aultmore 13yo

Thompson Bros Caol Ila 2010 15 Year Old

Region: Islay

ABV: 54.9%

Price: £78.95

This 2010 vintage Caol Ila was matured for 15 years in a dechar/rechar red wine hogshead before being bottled in February 2025. A total of 250 bottles were released.

Nose

The nose opens with a mix of strawberry jam, maraschino cherries, chocolate, and orange peel. Behind all of that sits a backbone of peat. It’s not overpowering, but definitely present enough to satisfy the peat heads. It shows up most noticeable as bonfire smoke and tar. There are also sweeter cereal notes like Lucky Charms, a bit of cinnamon spice, and sugar puffs. Very little spice given the ABV.

Palate

The palate has a nice warming ginger spice, and behind it burnt newspapers, wood, tar, strawberry syrup, orange, strawberry Chewits, angel delight, and treacle. Those notes are joined by some ash, and black pepper spice on a medium length finish. It’s not as tannic as we feared from the red wine cask, though the mouthfeel is slightly lacking. It’s not thin, just missing a slight something.

Nose (with water)

Water concentrates the sweetness even more—bringing out additional red fruits, alongside caramel. The peat is still there, just a little more subdued. The spice has softened. As it sits in the glass the sweetness starts to lean toward the synthetic side, but is still enjoyable.

Palate (with water)

Interestingly, the palate reacts in the opposite way to the nose: more concentrated peat comes through as ash, and that warming spice now takes longer to show up, but when it does, it becomes more intense on the finish. The mouthfeel remains about the same, and the sweeter non red fruit notes are now more noticeable.

Conclusion

We were a bit nervous going into this one as full maturation in red wine is notoriously difficult to get right, but this is a great example of how it can work. A tasty dram both with and without water.

Score: 8/10

Value

A great dram at a very fair price. £78.95 for a well-aged, red wine-matured Caol Ila is solid value in today’s market.

Thompson Bros Aultmore 13yo 

Region: Speyside

ABV: 50.0%

Price: £70.00

Distilled in May 2009, this Aultmore spent 13 years maturing in a red wine barrel before being bottled in August 2022. A total of 285 bottles were released.

Nose

We’re hit straight away with cream, icing sugar, and a note of Lucky Charms cereal. The ABV is noticeable, but the punch of sweetness does a good job of balancing out the alcohol. Coming back to it, more notes start to appear—strawberry foams, gingerbread men, cherries, honey, strawberry syrup, and marshmallows. Surprisingly, there’s none of the expected tannic bite from the red wine cask.

Palate

The palate opens with strawberry and caramel sweetness, but ginger and cracked black pepper spice appear on the mid palate. That spice hits a little too quickly for our liking, but that said, some of those sweeter notes do hang around on the finish, which is a good length, showcasing butterscotch ice cream and toffee popcorn. Mouthfeel is fine, but we’re a bit surprised at just how spicy this is for a 50% whisky.

Nose (with water)

Dilution mutes the fruit a touch, but brings out new notes: warehouse funk, porridge oats, toffee, burnt toast, chlorine, and caramel. With a bit of patience, some of those red fruit notes do return, though they’re more subtle.

Palate (with water)

The palate becomes honeyed with water, though it oddly also becomes even more spicy through on the mid-palate. A strong grapefruit note appears, which turns bitter and lingers on the finish alongside a touch of dark chocolate. The spice has eased back a bit on the finish, which remains a good length . Mouthfeel hasn’t changed much.

Conclusion

Red wine casks releases are usually too tannic, but clearly no one told Thompson Bros. We were surprised to review two red wine cask releases in a single day that didn’t lean overly tannic. While the pre-dilution palate was a bit too spicy for us, we’re happy to overlook that given the rest of the flavours. We definitely preferred the nose and palate neat.

Score: 7/10

Value

Good value at its original £70 release price, but sadly, it’s now sold out everywhere.

• 10 - Perfection. One in a million
• 9 - Outstanding. Exceptional whisky.
• 8 - Great. Would seek this out.
• 7 - Good. Quality whisky.
• 6 - Above average. Happy to have a dram.
• 5 - Average. Drinkable whisky.
• 4 - Below average. Passable.
• 3 - Flawed. Noticeable negatives.
• 2 - Defective. Significant faults.
• 1 - Offensive. Pour it out.

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