Caol Ila 10 Years Old 2009 Cask #DL 13825 (Old Particular)

A Caol Ila of a 10 year old chosen by the Glasgow bottler Douglas Laing, distilled in 2009, from cask DL 13825, bottled at 48.4%, one of 362 bottles. Caol Ila is the largest distillery on the Isle of Islay. Much of the spirit leaves the island by sea to mature on the mainland.

Here the spirit was drawn off the distillery's six tall stills from peated barley, for a clean, coastal, oily make. It was matured in refill ex-Bourbon oak, a soft vanilla beneath the spirit. Integration sees eugenol (clove) and vanillin (vanilla) fold into the spirit, the medicinal smoke gentler now. The oily texture comes from the spirit cut, the cask adding depth around it. Refill oak lets the maritime peat and lemon of the spirit lead the way. The medium peating leaves a smoke that is firm but never heavy. Sea air works into the maturing casks, lending a briny, coastal lift. The warehouses are ranged along the rocky shore at the water's edge.

At cask strength 48.4% it is muscular. A smoky, briny coastal character, with honeyed oak underneath. The texture is oily, the smoke threaded with citrus. The close is long, smoke over a citrus lift. This is an elegant Islay single malt.