Caol Ila 8 Years Old 2012 Cask #325961 (Potstill)

The bottler Potstill released this Caol Ila, an 8 year old, distilled in 2012, from cask 325961, bottled at 57.9%. Caol Ila is the smoky backbone of the Johnnie Walker blends. Much of the spirit leaves the island by sea to mature on the mainland.

Here the spirit was worked from peated barley through the distillery's tall stills, giving a clean, lemony peat. A sherry cask gave dried fruit and a dark, nutty sweetness. Young and extractive, the cask sheds vanillin (vanilla) and toasted hemicellulose sugars (a light caramel) fast, the phenols still sharp and medicinal. Maturation by the sea gives the malt its mineral, sea spray character. The original Victorian distillery was almost entirely rebuilt in the modern era. The cool Islay air gives a slow, steady maturation by the shore. Cool, damp warehousing slows the loss of the angel's share over the years.

At its natural 57.9% it is concentrated. Smoke, lemon and a peppery oil, with raisin and a caramelised nuttiness from the cask. A maritime salt and a lemon lift run through it. A long, briny finish ends on lemon and soft smoke. This is a lemony, coastal Islay single malt.