Caol Ila 13 Years Old 1999 Cask #305341 (G&M)

A Caol Ila of a 13 year old chosen by the Elgin house Gordon and MacPhail, distilled in 1999, from cask 305341, bottled at 50%, one of 350 bottles. Caol Ila makes a clean, maritime malt on the east coast of Islay. The distillery was expanded again in the 21st century to meet blend demand.

Here the spirit was distilled in tall stills that lend the smoke an oily lightness, building the elegant Islay smoke at its heart. Maturation in an Oloroso cask laid dried fruit over the make. By the integrating teens harsher congeners fade and ethyl esters build, lending a riper citrus over the softening peat. The spirit's high notes of lemon and grass survive even long maturation. Caol Ila's smoke leans to lemon, olive oil and brine rather than tar or iodine. Tall stills and a clean cut give the spirit its oily, lemony lightness. The peat here is medium rather than heavy, so fruit and smoke share the glass.

At a full 50% it is bold and oily. A bonfire smoke with lemon and sea salt, with dried fruit, fig and walnut from the cask. Smoke, lemon and a saline minerality fill the middle. The finish is clean, smoky and maritime. This is an Islay malt that wears its smoke lightly.