Caol Ila 2008 Ca88 (Cask 88 (Ca88))

The bottler Cask 88 (Ca88) selected this Caol Ila, a 9 year old, distilled in 2008, from cask 4016778, bottled at 58.2%, one of 88 bottles. Caol Ila is the most heavily bottled of all the Islay malts. Malt comes from the Port Ellen maltings on the south of the island.

Drawn off a high cut from peated barley, giving the lighter Islay style its shape. A refill bourbon hogshead held it, keeping the distillery character to the fore. Young and extractive, the cask sheds vanillin (vanilla) and toasted hemicellulose sugars (a light caramel) fast, the phenols still sharp and medicinal. Maturation by the sea gives the malt its mineral, sea spray character. Long fermentations build the fruity, citrus notes that sit beneath the smoke. The original Victorian distillery was almost entirely rebuilt in the modern era. A ferry crosses the Sound from Port Askaig to Jura and the mainland.

Bottled at a cask strength 58.2%, it is intense. Peat, smoked fish and a citrus oil, with vanilla and a honeyed edge from the cask. The texture is oily, the smoke threaded with citrus. A long, briny finish ends on lemon and soft smoke. This is the elegant, lighter side of Islay.