Caol Ila 15 Years Old 2008 Cask #309566 – 309567 (Wilson & Morgan)

This Caol Ila was bottled by the Italian bottler Wilson and Morgan, a 15 year old, distilled in 2008, from cask 309566-309567, bottled at 53.6%, one of 533 bottles. Caol Ila looks out across the Sound to the Paps of Jura. Water falls to the distillery from Loch nam Ban in the hills above.

It was run from peated malt through tall stills on Loch nam Ban water, for an oily smoke that leans to lemon and brine. A first fill sherry cask drove a deep, figgy, nutty character. Into oxidative maturity, slow air ingress builds fruity ethyl esters (pear and apple) and a waxiness, the phenols softening to a coastal whisper. Years in oak round the smoke, the peat mellowing while the brine stays. Long fermentations build the fruity, citrus notes that sit beneath the smoke. The malt is medium peated, giving a cleaner smoke than the south shore Islays.

Bottled at a cask strength 53.6%, it is intense. A clean peat with sea salt and citrus, with dried fruit, fig and walnut from the cask. A sea salt and an olive oil note sit under the smoke. A long, briny finish ends on lemon and soft smoke. This is an elegant Islay single malt.