Caol Ila 12 Years Old 2013 Cask #106 (Signatory)

A Caol Ila drawn by the Pitlochry bottler Signatory Vintage, distilled in 2013, from cask 106, bottled at 54.5%, one of 666 bottles. Caol Ila sends more spirit to independent bottlers than almost any malt. The six tall stills sit behind picture windows looking out to Jura.

The spirit was distilled with a long fermentation and a clean cut, building a refined, maritime peat. 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 spirit's high notes of lemon and grass survive even long maturation. The warehouses are ranged along the rocky shore at the water's edge. Long ageing turns the young, sharp peat into a soft, coastal smoke. Tall stills and a clean cut give the spirit its oily, lemony lightness.

Undiluted at 54.5%, it is powerful. Wood smoke, lemon zest and brine, with dried fruit, fig and walnut from the cask. Smoke, lemon and a saline minerality fill the middle. A long maritime smoke closes it. This is a clean coastal malt with a lemony peat.