Caol Ila 10 Years Old 2012 Cask #317365 + 69 + 318263 (Wilson & Morgan)

This Caol Ila was bottled by the Italian bottler Wilson and Morgan, a 10 year old, distilled in 2012, from cask 317365 + 69 + 318263, bottled at 57.7%, one of 830 bottles. Caol Ila is prized for a smoke that leans to lemon and olive oil rather than tar. Water falls to the distillery from Loch nam Ban in the hills above.

The spirit was drawn off a high cut from peated barley, for a clean, coastal, oily make. An ex-Bourbon barrel shaped it, vanilla and a light sweetness under the smoke. By the integrating teens harsher congeners fade and ethyl esters build, lending a riper citrus over the softening peat. The medium peating leaves a smoke that is firm but never heavy. The cool Islay air gives a slow, steady maturation by the shore. The peat here is medium rather than heavy, so fruit and smoke share the glass. A few weeks each year the distillery runs an unpeated, Highland style spirit.

At its natural 57.7% it is concentrated. A clean maritime smoke with lemon and brine, with a light bourbon sweetness. A maritime salt and a lemon lift run through it. The finish runs oily, smoky and clean. This is one of the most versatile of the Islay malts.