Caol Ila 8 Years Old 2010 (Old Particular)

From the Glasgow bottler Douglas Laing, an 8 year old Caol Ila, distilled in 2010, bottled at 58.4%, one of 319 bottles. Caol Ila is the largest distillery on the Isle of Islay. From a small Victorian works it grew into one of Scotland's biggest malt distilleries.

It was made from medium peated malt for a clean, smoky spirit, for the light, maritime smoke Caol Ila is known for. An American oak cask shaped it, soft and sweet beneath the peat. Young and extractive, the cask sheds vanillin (vanilla) and toasted hemicellulose sugars (a light caramel) fast, the phenols still sharp and medicinal. Active wood frames the smoke without smothering the citrus beneath. Much of the spirit leaves the island by sea to mature on the mainland. A gentle vanillin sweetness from the oak balances the coastal phenols. Caol Ila's smoke leans to lemon, olive oil and brine rather than tar or iodine.

Bottled at a cask strength 58.4%, it is intense. Ashy smoke, lemon oil and a saline tang, with a soft vanilla from the oak. Beneath the smoke run lemon, brine and a peppery oil. The finish is clean, smoky and maritime. This is the elegant, lighter side of Islay.