Caol Ila The Managers’ Choice 12 Years Old 1997

The Managers' Choice

700ml / 58%

Single Malt

$1559

This Caol Ila comes from the distillery, a 12 year old, at 58%. Clean and coastal, the smoke leans to lemon and olive oil, with dried fruit, fig and walnut from the cask. The distillery sits below a steep brae on the shore. A workhorse of the blending halls and a favourite of malt drinkers. This is a bright, coastal Islay malt of poise.

Only 2 left in stock

Only 2 left

SKU CIL048 Categories Caol Ila, Islay, Scottish Whisky, Whiskey Brand: Caol Ila

Description

Caol Ila from the distillery, a 12 year old, from 1997, cask 14185, at 58%, 366 bottles in all. Caol Ila is the lighter, more elegant face of Islay smoke. A few weeks each year the distillery runs an unpeated, Highland style spirit.

The spirit was made from medium peated malt for a clean, smoky spirit, giving the lighter Islay style its shape. A first fill sherry cask drove a deep, figgy, nutty character. In integration the oak lactones (coconut) and vanillin (vanilla) knit with the phenols, the whole growing rounder and oilier. Long ageing turns the young, sharp peat into a soft, coastal smoke. The malt is medium peated, giving a cleaner smoke than the south shore Islays. From a small Victorian works it grew into one of Scotland's biggest malt distilleries. Maturation by the sea gives the malt its mineral, sea spray character.

Bottled at a cask strength 58%, it is intense. A lemony Islay smoke over olive oil, with dried fruit, fig and walnut from the cask. Lemon, olive oil and a soft ash run through the middle. A long, coastal finish carries a peaty warmth. This is Caol Ila's lighter, maritime Islay smoke.