Caol Ila 12 Years Old 2008 (The Whisky Cask)

The bottler The Whisky Cask released this Caol Ila, a 12 year old, distilled in 2008, bottled at 54.4%. 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.

Worked from peated malt for the lighter Islay style, for a clean, coastal, oily make. Ex-Sherry wood added a dried fruit richness beneath the smoke. Through integration the spirit and cask settle, lactone coconut and a soft vanillin balancing the easing phenols. The spirit's high notes of lemon and grass survive even long maturation. The peat here is medium rather than heavy, so fruit and smoke share the glass. Maturation by the sea gives the malt its mineral, sea spray character. Cool, damp warehousing slows the loss of the angel's share over the years. The original Victorian distillery was almost entirely rebuilt in the modern era.

At its natural 54.4% it is concentrated. A clean maritime smoke with lemon and brine, with dried fruit, fig and walnut from the cask. A sea salt and an olive oil note sit under the smoke. A long, briny finish ends on lemon and soft smoke. This is a clean Islay smoke from the island's largest distillery.