Caol Ila 11 Years Old 2013 Cask #UC043 (Uncharted Whisky Co.)

This Caol Ila was bottled by the bottler Uncharted Whisky Co, an 11 year old, distilled in 2013, from cask UC043, bottled at 57.9%, one of 308 bottles. Caol Ila is the quiet giant of Islay, vast yet refined. Malt comes from the Port Ellen maltings on the south of the island.

It was run through tall copper stills that keep the smoke light, for the clean island smoke prized by blenders. First fill bourbon gave it a fuller vanilla and a touch of coconut. Integration sees eugenol (clove) and vanillin (vanilla) fold into the spirit, the medicinal smoke gentler now. Years in oak round the smoke, the peat mellowing while the brine stays. Active wood frames the smoke without smothering the citrus beneath. The peat here is medium rather than heavy, so fruit and smoke share the glass. The spirit's high notes of lemon and grass survive even long maturation.

Bottled at a cask strength 57.9%, it is intense. A coastal peat with citrus and pepper, with a creamy oak note. Smoke, lemon and a saline minerality fill the middle. The finish is long, smoky and citrussy. This is a maritime, lemony Islay single malt.