Caol Ila 12 Years Old 2007 Cask #303197 (Meadowside Blending)

This Caol Ila was bottled by the bottler Meadowside Blending, a 12 year old, distilled in 2007, from cask 303197, bottled at 53.3%, one of 312 bottles. Caol Ila is the smoky backbone of the Johnnie Walker blends. The six tall stills sit behind picture windows looking out to Jura.

Here the spirit was worked from peated barley through the distillery's tall stills, giving the lighter Islay style its shape. A refill bourbon hogshead held it, keeping the distillery character to the fore. Through integration the spirit and cask settle, lactone coconut and a soft vanillin balancing the easing phenols. Caol Ila's smoke leans to lemon, olive oil and brine rather than tar or iodine. 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. The spirit's high notes of lemon and grass survive even long maturation.

At a full 53.3% it is bold and oily. 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. It finishes smoky, oily and bright. This is the elegant, lighter side of Islay.