Caol Ila 17 Years Old 2006 Cask #306193 (Connoisseurs Choice)

A Caol Ila of a 17 year old chosen by the Elgin house Gordon and MacPhail, distilled in 2006, from cask 306193, bottled at 58.3%, one of 571 bottles. Caol Ila wears its Islay smoke more lightly than its southern neighbours. A ferry crosses the Sound from Port Askaig to Jura and the mainland.

The spirit was drawn off the distillery's six tall stills from peated barley, giving a clean, lemony peat. A sherry butt held it, the wood lending raisin and walnut. At oxidative maturity aldehydes and esters lend dried fruit while ellagitannins add a drying, structured grip, the smoke now mellow. The spirit's high notes of lemon and grass survive even long maturation. Water falls to the distillery from Loch nam Ban in the hills above. Port Askaig is a tiny settlement on the rugged east coast of Islay. Smoked citrus and a saline minerality are the hallmarks of the make.

At cask strength 58.3% it is muscular. A fresh peat smoke over oily lemon, with dried fruit, fig and walnut from the cask. It is clean and coastal, the peat and lemon to the fore. Smoke and sea salt see out a long finish. This is an Islay malt that wears its smoke lightly.