Caol Ila 17 Years Old 2007 Cask #311974 (Connoisseurs Choice)

The Elgin house Gordon and MacPhail bottled this Caol Ila, a 17 year old, distilled in 2007, from cask 311974, bottled at 57.1%, one of 404 bottles. Caol Ila has been bottled at every age from young and fierce to old and waxy. Tall stills and a clean cut give the spirit its oily, lemony lightness.

It was distilled slowly from peated malt for a refined island smoke, building a refined, maritime peat. A first fill sherry cask drove a deep, figgy, nutty character. In the oxidative middle years the spirit deepens, oxidation drawing out waxy fruit as the guaiacol smoke fades to embers. The tall stills and a high cut give a lighter, cleaner spirit than the southern Islays. A gentle vanillin sweetness from the oak balances the coastal phenols. Caol Ila's smoke leans to lemon, olive oil and brine rather than tar or iodine. Malt comes from the Port Ellen maltings on the south of the island.

Undiluted at 57.1%, it is powerful. A coastal peat with citrus and pepper, with dried fruit, fig and walnut from the cask. Soft smoke and citrus sit behind the cask. A long, briny finish ends on lemon and soft smoke. This is a maritime, lemony Islay single malt.