Caol Ila 12 Years Old 2010 Cask #322747 (Adelphi)

A Caol Ila drawn by the Adelphi bottler, distilled in 2010, from cask 322747, bottled at 57.4%, one of 531 bottles. Caol Ila is an Islay malt of clean, oily, citrus driven smoke. Tall stills and a clean cut give the spirit its oily, lemony lightness.

Worked from peated barley through the distillery's tall stills, for an oily smoke that leans to lemon and brine. Maturation in an Oloroso cask laid dried fruit over the make. Through the integration phase spirit and wood marry, vanillin settling into a rounded vanilla as the guaiacol phenols mellow into a softer smoke. The peat here is medium rather than heavy, so fruit and smoke share the glass. Its spirit also feeds blends such as Bell's and Black Bottle. The clean, lemony smoke has made it a favourite of blenders for generations. Most of its peated malt is destined for the Johnnie Walker blends.

Undiluted at 57.4%, it is powerful. A coastal peat with citrus and pepper, with dried fruit, fig and walnut from the cask. It is clean and coastal, the peat and lemon to the fore. The smoke fades slow over citrus and a mineral tang. This is a lemony, coastal Islay single malt.