Caol Ila 12 Years Old 2003 Cask #301266 (Adelphi)

The Adelphi bottler released this Caol Ila, a 12 year old, distilled in 2003, from cask 301266, bottled at 58.1%, one of 285 bottles. Caol Ila is an Islay malt of clean, oily, citrus driven smoke. A few weeks each year the distillery runs an unpeated, Highland style spirit.

The spirit was distilled from medium peated malt in tall copper stills, for a smoky spirit with a citrus lift. A sherry cask wrapped the spirit in dried fruit and a nutty depth. Across the integration years the smoke loses its edge as esters and vanillin weave into a smoother, citrussy whole. The peat here is medium rather than heavy, so fruit and smoke share the glass. A gentle vanillin sweetness from the oak balances the coastal phenols. Olive oil and lemon sit at the heart of the Caol Ila character. The medium peating leaves a smoke that is firm but never heavy.

At its natural 58.1% it is concentrated. Smoke, grapefruit and a maritime salt, with dried fruit, fig and walnut from the cask. Soft smoke and citrus sit behind the cask. The close is long, smoke over a citrus lift. This is the smoky malt of the Sound of Islay.