Caol Ila 16 Years Old 1990 Cask #4163 (Blackadder)

The bottler Blackadder released this Caol Ila, a 16 year old, distilled in 1990, from cask 4163, bottled at 58.3%, one of 279 bottles. Caol Ila is an Islay malt of clean, oily, citrus driven smoke. A few weeks each year the distillery runs an unpeated, Highland style spirit.

It was made from medium phenol malt on soft Loch nam Ban water, giving a bright, citrus driven peat. A sherry cask wrapped the spirit in dried fruit and a nutty depth. Oxidative maturity brings a waxy, fruity depth, ethyl esters of orchard fruit building as the peat turns gentle and coastal. The spirit's lightness lets sherry, wine and bourbon casks all show through. The peat here is medium rather than heavy, so fruit and smoke share the glass. Caol Ila's smoke leans to lemon, olive oil and brine rather than tar or iodine. Maturation by the sea gives the malt its mineral, sea spray character.

At its natural 58.3% it is concentrated. Ashy smoke, lemon oil and a saline tang, with dried fruit, fig and walnut from the cask. Lemon, olive oil and a soft ash run through the middle. The finish runs oily, smoky and clean. This is one of the most versatile of the Islay malts.