Caol Ila 26 Years Old 1982 (The Whisky Society)

This Caol Ila was bottled by the bottler The Whisky Society, a 26 year old, distilled in 1982, bottled at 55.7%, one of 215 bottles. Caol Ila sits on the shore at Port Askaig, on the narrow Sound of Islay. A few weeks each year the distillery runs an unpeated, Highland style spirit.

Made from medium phenol malt on soft Loch nam Ban water, giving a bright, citrus driven peat. A long spell in ex-Bourbon oak rounded the spirit gently. In the oxidative and evaporative years the angel's share concentrates the spirit, tropical esters of mango and pineapple emerging as the smoke fades to a soft ash. The peat here is medium rather than heavy, so fruit and smoke share the glass. Caol Ila's smoke leans to lemon, olive oil and brine rather than tar or iodine. Port Askaig is a tiny settlement on the rugged east coast of Islay. Water falls to the distillery from Loch nam Ban in the hills above.

At a natural 55.7% it is full and oily. A clean ashy smoke with lime and brine, with a soft vanilla from the oak. The oily body carries the smoke long and clean. The close is long, smoke over a citrus lift. This is one of the most versatile of the Islay malts.