Caol Ila 40 Years Old 1982 Cask #697 (Private Collection)

The Elgin house Gordon and MacPhail selected this Caol Ila, a 40 year old, distilled in 1982, from cask 697, bottled at 44.1%, one of 50 bottles. Caol Ila has distilled at Port Askaig since the middle of the 19th century. The six tall stills sit behind picture windows looking out to Jura.

Run through tall copper stills that keep the smoke light, for a clean, coastal, oily make. First fill bourbon gave it a fuller vanilla and a touch of coconut. At an ethereal, fragile age the spirit turns delicate, sotolon lending a maple and old oak depth as beeswax and a ghost of smoke linger. The cool Islay air gives a slow, steady maturation by the shore. Smoked citrus and a saline minerality are the hallmarks of the make. The warehouses are ranged along the rocky shore at the water's edge. The clean spirit shows the cask clearly, which is why it suits so many wood types.

At 44.1% without water it is rich and full. A coastal peat with citrus and pepper, with a gentle oak sweetness beneath. The texture is oily, the smoke threaded with citrus. It finishes smoky, oily and bright. This is the smoky malt of the Sound of Islay.