Caol Ila 28 Years Old 1990 Cask #13129 (WhiskyNerds)

A 28 year old Caol Ila from the bottler WhiskyNerds, from cask 13129, bottled at 48%, one of 192 bottles. Caol Ila is a workhorse of the blending halls and a favourite of malt drinkers. The clean, lemony smoke has made it a favourite of blenders for generations.

The spirit was drawn off the distillery's six tall stills from peated barley, for the clean island smoke prized by blenders. A sherry cask gave dried fruit and a dark, nutty sweetness. At this oxidative, evaporative stage ellagitannins lend a polished, drying structure while slow oxidation brings waxy tropical fruit over a ghost of peat. The spirit's lightness lets sherry, wine and bourbon casks all show through. Its peated character is built on malt smoked to a medium level of phenols. Much of the spirit leaves the island by sea to mature on the mainland. Maturation by the sea gives the malt its mineral, sea spray character.

At its natural 48% it is concentrated. Peat, smoked fish and a citrus oil, with dried fruit, fig and walnut from the cask. The texture is oily, the smoke threaded with citrus. Lemon, soft ash and sea salt see it out. This is an Islay malt that wears its smoke lightly.