Caol Ila 10 Years Old Fs 120 years Flickenschild

A 10 year old Caol Ila, from the bottler Flickenschild, bottled at 49.7%, one of 120 bottles. Caol Ila has been bottled at every age from young and fierce to old and waxy. From a small Victorian works it grew into one of Scotland's biggest malt distilleries.

Here the spirit was made from medium peated malt for a clean, smoky spirit, giving a bright, citrus driven peat. Ex-Sherry wood added a dried fruit richness beneath the smoke. Through the integration phase spirit and wood marry, vanillin settling into a rounded vanilla as the guaiacol phenols mellow into a softer smoke. Active wood frames the smoke without smothering the citrus beneath. Caol Ila's smoke leans to lemon, olive oil and brine rather than tar or iodine. The cool Islay air gives a slow, steady maturation by the shore. The malt is medium peated, giving a cleaner smoke than the south shore Islays.

Undiluted at 49.7%, it is powerful. A clean maritime smoke with lemon and brine, with raisin, date and treacle from the cask. A maritime salt and a lemon lift run through it. The finish runs oily, smoky and clean. This is a clean, smoky Islay single malt from Caol Ila.