Caol Ila 19 Years Old 1996 Cask #DL 10971 (Old Particular)

The Glasgow bottler Douglas Laing bottled this Caol Ila, a 19 year old, distilled in 1996, from cask DL 10971, bottled at 51.5%, one of 313 bottles. Caol Ila was founded in 1846 by Hector Henderson. The six tall stills sit behind picture windows looking out to Jura.

The spirit was drawn off a high cut from peated barley, for a smoke more elegant than heavy. It was matured in refill ex-Bourbon oak, a soft vanilla beneath the spirit. Oxidative maturity brings a waxy, fruity depth, ethyl esters of orchard fruit building as the peat turns gentle and coastal. Phenols from the peat smoke carry the medicinal, lemony edge through the years. The spirit's high notes of lemon and grass survive even long maturation. The peat here is medium rather than heavy, so fruit and smoke share the glass. From a small Victorian works it grew into one of Scotland's biggest malt distilleries.

Bottled at a cask strength 51.5%, it is intense. A fresh peat smoke over oily lemon, with a gentle oak sweetness beneath. It is clean and coastal, the peat and lemon to the fore. A long, briny finish ends on lemon and soft smoke. This is a clean coastal malt with a lemony peat.