Caol Ila 16 Years Old 2005 Cask #17600505 (Connoisseurs Choice)

The Elgin house Gordon and MacPhail bottled this Caol Ila, a 16 year old, distilled in 2005, from cask 17600505, bottled at 53.3%, one of 141 bottles. Caol Ila looks out across the Sound to the Paps of Jura. Most of its peated malt is destined for the Johnnie Walker blends.

This was distilled in tall stills that lend the smoke an oily lightness, for the clean island smoke prized by blenders. A first fill sherry cask drove a deep, figgy, nutty character. At oxidative maturity aldehydes and esters lend dried fruit while ellagitannins add a drying, structured grip, the smoke now mellow. A gentle vanillin sweetness from the oak balances the coastal phenols. A few weeks each year the distillery runs an unpeated, Highland style spirit. Much of the spirit leaves the island by sea to mature on the mainland. The distillery was expanded again in the 21st century to meet blend demand.

Bottled at a cask strength 53.3%, it is intense. A fresh peat smoke over oily lemon, with dried fruit, fig and walnut from the cask. Smoke, lemon and a saline minerality fill the middle. A long, briny finish ends on lemon and soft smoke. This is a refined, citrus driven Islay smoke.