Caol Ila 16 Years Old 2007 Cask #50371 (Jack Wiebers Whisky World)

A 16 year old Caol Ila, this distilled in 2007 from the bottler Jack Wiebers Whisky World, from cask 50371, bottled at 52.3%, one of 277 bottles. Caol Ila wears its Islay smoke more lightly than its southern neighbours. The six tall stills sit behind picture windows looking out to Jura.

Here the spirit was drawn off the distillery's six tall stills from peated barley, giving a clean, lemony peat. An ex-Bourbon barrel gave a gentle sweetness and a creamy edge. Into oxidative maturity, slow air ingress builds fruity ethyl esters (pear and apple) and a waxiness, the phenols softening to a coastal whisper. The oily texture comes from the spirit cut, the cask adding depth around it. Years in oak round the smoke, the peat mellowing while the brine stays. The original Victorian distillery was almost entirely rebuilt in the modern era.

At cask strength 52.3% it is muscular. A clean maritime smoke with lemon and brine, with vanilla and a honeyed edge from the cask. A maritime salt and a lemon lift run through it. The close is long, smoke over a citrus lift. This is an Islay malt that wears its smoke lightly.