Caol Ila 11 Years Old 2010 Cask #324045 + 324053 (Signatory)

A Caol Ila of an 11 year old chosen by the Pitlochry bottler Signatory Vintage, distilled in 2010, from cask 324045 + 324053, bottled at 43%. Caol Ila is an east coast Islay distillery on the strait facing Jura. A few weeks each year the distillery runs an unpeated, Highland style spirit.

This was distilled with a long fermentation and a clean cut, building the elegant Islay smoke at its heart. Ex-Bourbon casks held it, the gentle American oak letting the make lead. In integration the oak lactones (coconut) and vanillin (vanilla) knit with the phenols, the whole growing rounder and oilier. Active wood frames the smoke without smothering the citrus beneath. Malt comes from the Port Ellen maltings on the south of the island. Cool, damp warehousing slows the loss of the angel's share over the years. Caol Ila's smoke leans to lemon, olive oil and brine rather than tar or iodine.

Reduced to 43%, it is mellow. Smoke, grapefruit and a maritime salt, with a quiet vanilla under the smoke. A sea salt and an olive oil note sit under the smoke. Ash, lemon and brine draw out the close. This is a clean Islay smoke from the island's largest distillery.