Caol Ila 12 Years Old 1989 Cask #3322 (Mackillop’s Choice)

A Caol Ila drawn by the bottler Mackillop's Choice, distilled in 1989, from cask 3322, bottled at 57.7%. Caol Ila wears its Islay smoke more lightly than its southern neighbours. A ferry crosses the Sound from Port Askaig to Jura and the mainland.

Here the spirit was worked from peated barley through the distillery's tall stills, building a refined, maritime peat. It rested in ex-Bourbon oak, the wood adding only a light vanilla. By the integrating teens harsher congeners fade and ethyl esters build, lending a riper citrus over the softening peat. Years in oak round the smoke, the peat mellowing while the brine stays. Time in oak deepens the oily body while the maritime smoke stays bright. Most of its peated malt is destined for the Johnnie Walker blends. The peat here is medium rather than heavy, so fruit and smoke share the glass.

At a natural 57.7% it is full and oily. A lemony Islay smoke over olive oil, with honeyed oak underneath. Soft smoke and citrus sit behind the cask. A long, coastal finish carries a peaty warmth. This is a clean Islay smoke from the island's largest distillery.