Caol Ila 26 Years Old 1995 Cask #708 (Signatory)

700ml / 49.2%

Single Malt

$935

From the Pitlochry bottler Signatory Vintage, a 26 year old Caol Ila 1995, at 49.2%. Clean peat smoke meets lemon zest and a coastal salt. It is the most independently bottled of all the Islay malts. Water comes from Loch nam Ban, above the distillery. Among the most widely traded of Islay’s single malts. This is an Islay malt of clean smoke and bright citrus.

Only 2 left in stock

Only 2 left

SKU CIL825 Categories Caol Ila, Islay, Scottish Whisky, Whiskey Brand: Caol Ila

Description

From the Pitlochry bottler Signatory Vintage, a 26 year old Caol Ila, distilled in 1995, from cask 708, bottled at 49.2%, one of 163 bottles. Caol Ila is prized for a smoke that leans to lemon and olive oil rather than tar. The clean, lemony smoke has made it a favourite of blenders for generations.

Here the spirit was worked from peated barley through the distillery's tall stills, for a clean, coastal, oily make. It rested in ex-Bourbon oak, the wood adding only a light vanilla. In the oxidative and evaporative years the angel's share concentrates the spirit, tropical esters of mango and pineapple emerging as the smoke fades to a soft ash. Sea air works into the maturing casks, lending a briny, coastal lift. From a small Victorian works it grew into one of Scotland's biggest malt distilleries. Maturation by the sea gives the malt its mineral, sea spray character.

At 49.2% without water it is rich and full. Peat smoke, citrus and a soft oil, with a light vanilla and a touch of coconut. Soft smoke and citrus sit behind the cask. The finish runs oily, smoky and clean. This is the smoky malt of the Sound of Islay.