Caol Ila 21 Years Old 1974 Cask #12605 (Signatory)

This Caol Ila was bottled by the Pitlochry bottler Signatory Vintage, a 21 year old, distilled in 1974, from cask 12605, bottled at 59.5%, one of 275 bottles. Caol Ila wears its Islay smoke more lightly than its southern neighbours. Its peated character is built on malt smoked to a medium level of phenols.

The spirit was worked from peated malt for the lighter Islay style, for a clean, coastal, oily make. It rested in ex-Bourbon oak, the wood adding only a light vanilla. At oxidative maturity aldehydes and esters lend dried fruit while ellagitannins add a drying, structured grip, the smoke now mellow. Maturation by the sea gives the malt its mineral, sea spray character. A gentle vanillin sweetness from the oak balances the coastal phenols. The warehouses are ranged along the rocky shore at the water's edge. Caol Ila's smoke leans to lemon, olive oil and brine rather than tar or iodine.

At a natural 59.5% it is full and oily. Smoke, lemon and a peppery oil, with honeyed oak underneath. A maritime salt and a lemon lift run through it. The close is long, smoke over a citrus lift. This is Caol Ila's lighter, maritime Islay smoke.