Caol Ila 12 Years Old 2008 Cask #318691B (Torsten Paul Whisky Company)

A Caol Ila drawn by the bottler Torsten Paul Whisky Company, distilled in 2008, from cask 318691B, bottled at 50%, one of 67 bottles. Caol Ila is the lighter, more elegant face of Islay smoke. Much of the spirit leaves the island by sea to mature on the mainland.

Here the spirit was distilled with a long fermentation and a clean cut, for an oily smoke that leans to lemon and brine. A sherry butt held it, the wood lending raisin and walnut. In integration the oak lactones (coconut) and vanillin (vanilla) knit with the phenols, the whole growing rounder and oilier. Phenols from the peat smoke carry the medicinal, lemony edge through the years. Port Askaig is a tiny settlement on the rugged east coast of Islay. A ferry crosses the Sound from Port Askaig to Jura and the mainland. A gentle vanillin sweetness from the oak balances the coastal phenols.

At a natural 50% it is full and oily. A fresh peat smoke over oily lemon, with raisin, date and treacle from the cask. Soft smoke and citrus sit behind the cask. A long, briny finish ends on lemon and soft smoke. This is the elegant, lighter side of Islay.