Caol Ila 10 Years Old Single Minded (Douglas Laing)

A 10 year old Caol Ila, this distilled in 2009 from the Glasgow bottler Douglas Laing, bottled at 43%, one of 382 bottles. Caol Ila takes its name from the Gaelic for the Sound of Islay. A few weeks each year the distillery runs an unpeated, Highland style spirit.

This was made from medium peated malt for a clean, smoky spirit, shaping the lighter side of Islay. A second fill bourbon cask kept the oak in the background. In integration the oak lactones (coconut) and vanillin (vanilla) knit with the phenols, the whole growing rounder and oilier. The clean, oily spirit takes cask flavour well while holding its citrus and smoke. The tall stills and a high cut give a lighter, cleaner spirit than the southern Islays. Tall stills and a clean cut give the spirit its oily, lemony lightness. The peat here is medium rather than heavy, so fruit and smoke share the glass.

At an easy 43% it is gentle. Smoke, grapefruit and a maritime salt, with a touch of vanilla and toffee. An oily smoke coats the palate, citrus and brine behind. A long, coastal finish carries a peaty warmth. This is Caol Ila's lighter, maritime Islay smoke.