Caol Ila 15 Years Old 2008 Cask #WB002 (The Single Cask Ltd.)

The bottler The Single Cask Ltd selected this Caol Ila, a 15 year old, distilled in 2008, from cask WB002, bottled at 55.6%, one of 133 bottles. Caol Ila is the quiet giant of Islay, vast yet refined. The six tall stills sit behind picture windows looking out to Jura.

Here the spirit was worked from peated barley through the distillery's tall stills, giving the lighter Islay style its shape. Maturation in a fortified cask lent red fruit and a soft spice. In the oxidative middle years the spirit deepens, oxidation drawing out waxy fruit as the guaiacol smoke fades to embers. Years in oak round the smoke, the peat mellowing while the brine stays. Much of the spirit leaves the island by sea to mature on the mainland. The spirit's lightness lets sherry, wine and bourbon casks all show through. Active wood frames the smoke without smothering the citrus beneath.

At a natural 55.6% it is full and oily. A smoky, briny coastal character, with red berry and a dry spice from the cask. The oily body carries the smoke long and clean. A long, coastal finish carries a peaty warmth. This is a lemony, coastal Islay single malt.