Caol Ila 11 Years Old 2012 Cask #12043 (The Whisky Cellar)

An 11 year old Caol Ila, this distilled in 2012 from the bottler The Whisky Cellar, from cask 12043, bottled at 55.2%, one of 350 bottles. Caol Ila is the quiet giant of Islay, vast yet refined. Water falls to the distillery from Loch nam Ban in the hills above.

The spirit was distilled with a long fermentation and a clean cut, building the elegant Islay smoke at its heart. First fill bourbon gave it a fuller vanilla and a touch of coconut. By the integrating teens harsher congeners fade and ethyl esters build, lending a riper citrus over the softening peat. Olive oil and lemon sit at the heart of the Caol Ila character. Maturation by the sea gives the malt its mineral, sea spray character. Its peated character is built on malt smoked to a medium level of phenols. The medium peating leaves a smoke that is firm but never heavy. The spirit's lightness lets sherry, wine and bourbon casks all show through.

At a full 55.2% it is bold and oily. A coastal peat with citrus and pepper, with vanilla and a honeyed edge from the cask. The oily body carries the smoke long and clean. Ash, lemon and brine draw out the close. This is a lemony, coastal Islay single malt.