Caol Ila 11 Years Old 2010 Cask #323429,323430 (House of McCallum)

A Caol Ila drawn by the bottler House of McCallum, distilled in 2010, from cask 323429,323430, bottled at 50.5%, one of 680 bottles. Caol Ila wears its Islay smoke more lightly than its southern neighbours. Diageo's Special Releases have featured both peated and unpeated Caol Ila.

The spirit was distilled with a long fermentation and a clean cut, for the clean island smoke prized by blenders. It rested in ex-Bourbon oak, the wood adding only a light vanilla. In integration the oak lactones (coconut) and vanillin (vanilla) knit with the phenols, the whole growing rounder and oilier. The clean spirit shows the cask clearly, which is why it suits so many wood types. The clean, oily spirit takes cask flavour well while holding its citrus and smoke. The peat here is medium rather than heavy, so fruit and smoke share the glass.

At a natural 50.5% it is full and oily. Peat, smoked fish and a citrus oil, with vanilla and a honeyed edge from the cask. An oily smoke coats the palate, citrus and brine behind. A smoky, oily warmth lingers with lemon and salt. This is a lemony, coastal Islay single malt.