Caol Ila 10 Years Old 2010 Cask #3425/26/27 (House of McCallum)

A 10 year old Caol Ila from the bottler House of McCallum, from cask 3425/26/27, bottled at 46.5%, one of 1140 bottles. Caol Ila is prized for a smoke that leans to lemon and olive oil rather than tar. Long fermentations build the fruity, citrus notes that sit beneath the smoke.

Here the spirit was made from medium phenol malt on soft Loch nam Ban water, giving a clean, lemony peat. An American oak cask shaped it, soft and sweet beneath the peat. Through the integration phase spirit and wood marry, vanillin settling into a rounded vanilla as the guaiacol phenols mellow into a softer smoke. The cool Islay air gives a slow, steady maturation by the shore. The peat here is medium rather than heavy, so fruit and smoke share the glass. Phenols from the peat smoke carry the medicinal, lemony edge through the years. Tall stills and a clean cut give the spirit its oily, lemony lightness.

At 46.5% it is soft, oily and bright. A clean peat with sea salt and citrus, with a gentle oak sweetness beneath. It is clean and coastal, the peat and lemon to the fore. A smoky, oily warmth lingers with lemon and salt. This is a refined, citrus driven Islay smoke.