Caol Ila 5 Years Old 2016 Cask #94 (Acorn)

A 5 year old Caol Ila from the bottler Acorn, from cask 94, bottled at 60.9%, one of 239 bottles. Caol Ila was rebuilt in the 1970s into the large distillery it is today. From a small Victorian works it grew into one of Scotland's biggest malt distilleries.

It was run from peated malt through tall stills on Loch nam Ban water, for a smoke more elegant than heavy. Ex-Bourbon casks held it, the gentle American oak letting the make lead. In its extractive youth the spirit takes vanillin vanilla and lactone coconut quickly, the peat phenols vivid and lemony. Years in oak round the smoke, the peat mellowing while the brine stays. The tall stills and a high cut give a lighter, cleaner spirit than the southern Islays. A ferry crosses the Sound from Port Askaig to Jura and the mainland. It was founded by Hector Henderson and later passed to the Distillers Company.

At a hearty 60.9% it carries real weight. A lemony Islay smoke over olive oil, with vanilla and a honeyed edge from the cask. It is clean and coastal, the peat and lemon to the fore. Smoke and sea salt see out a long finish. This is a clean coastal malt with a lemony peat.