Caol Ila 10 Years Old 2014 (Spiriti Leggendari)

From the bottler Spiriti Leggendari, a 10 year old Caol Ila, distilled in 2014, bottled at 50%. Caol Ila sends more spirit to independent bottlers than almost any malt. Diageo's Special Releases have featured both peated and unpeated Caol Ila.

The spirit was worked from peated barley through the distillery's tall stills, building a refined, maritime peat. First fill bourbon gave it a fuller vanilla and a touch of coconut. By the integrating teens harsher congeners fade and ethyl esters build, lending a riper citrus over the softening peat. The clean, oily spirit takes cask flavour well while holding its citrus and smoke. The oily texture comes from the spirit cut, the cask adding depth around it. A few weeks each year the distillery runs an unpeated, Highland style spirit. The tall stills and a high cut give a lighter, cleaner spirit than the southern Islays.

At its natural 50% it is concentrated. A fresh peat smoke over oily lemon, with vanilla and a soft caramel from the wood. Smoke, lemon and a saline minerality fill the middle. The finish runs oily, smoky and clean. This is a maritime, lemony Islay single malt.