Caol Ila 12 Years Old 2010 Cask #318803 (Sansibar)

A Caol Ila drawn by the bottler Sansibar, distilled in 2010, from cask 318803, bottled at 57.5%, one of 308 bottles. Caol Ila is the most heavily bottled of all the Islay malts. The warehouses are ranged along the rocky shore at the water's edge.

It was distilled with a long fermentation and a clean cut, for a clean, coastal, oily make. A bourbon barrel held it, the oak lending vanilla and a little cream. Integration sees eugenol (clove) and vanillin (vanilla) fold into the spirit, the medicinal smoke gentler now. A clean smoke and a coastal salt define the distillery style. A gentle vanillin sweetness from the oak balances the coastal phenols. It was founded by Hector Henderson and later passed to the Distillers Company. Years in oak round the smoke, the peat mellowing while the brine stays. Water falls to the distillery from Loch nam Ban in the hills above.

At cask strength 57.5% it is muscular. A bonfire smoke with lemon and sea salt, with a light bourbon sweetness. The texture is oily, the smoke threaded with citrus. Ash, lemon and brine draw out the close. This is a clean coastal malt with a lemony peat.