Caol Ila 8 Years Old 2010 Cask #318697 (Signatory)

An 8 year old Caol Ila, this distilled in 2010 from the Pitlochry bottler Signatory Vintage, from cask 318697, bottled at 46%, one of 406 bottles. Caol Ila is a workhorse of the blending halls and a favourite of malt drinkers. Much of the spirit leaves the island by sea to mature on the mainland.

The spirit was distilled in tall stills that lend the smoke an oily lightness, for the light, maritime smoke Caol Ila is known for. Refill American oak let the spirit speak, adding a quiet honeyed note. These first years are extractive, the oak giving lactones as coconut and vanillin as vanilla beneath a sharp, citrussy smoke. The oily texture comes from the spirit cut, the cask adding depth around it. Malt comes from the Port Ellen maltings on the south of the island. Caol Ila's smoke leans to lemon, olive oil and brine rather than tar or iodine. Water falls to the distillery from Loch nam Ban in the hills above.

Bottled at 46%, it is rounded. Sea spray, smoke and a citrus lift, with vanilla and a soft caramel from the wood. An oily smoke coats the palate, citrus and brine behind. Smoke and sea salt see out a long finish. This is an elegant Islay single malt.