Caol Ila 14 Years Old 2004 Cask #306295 – 306297 (Ian Macleod)

This Caol Ila was bottled by the bottler Ian Macleod, a 14 year old, distilled in 2004, from cask 306295-306297, bottled at 46%, one of 932 bottles. Caol Ila is an east coast Islay distillery on the strait facing Jura. The six tall stills sit behind picture windows looking out to Jura.

The spirit was run through tall copper stills that keep the smoke light, for the clean island smoke prized by blenders. It rested in ex-Bourbon oak, the wood adding only a light vanilla. In integration the oak lactones (coconut) and vanillin (vanilla) knit with the phenols, the whole growing rounder and oilier. The spirit's high notes of lemon and grass survive even long maturation. The cool Islay air gives a slow, steady maturation by the shore. Tall stills and a clean cut give the spirit its oily, lemony lightness. Active wood frames the smoke without smothering the citrus beneath.

Bottled at 46%, it is rounded. Peat, smoked fish and a citrus oil, with honeyed oak underneath. A sea salt and an olive oil note sit under the smoke. The smoke fades slow over citrus and a mineral tang. This is a lemony, coastal Islay single malt.