Caol Ila 6 Years Old (Premier Barrel)

A Caol Ila of a 6 year old chosen by the Glasgow bottler Douglas Laing, bottled at 46%, one of 448 bottles. Caol Ila is the most heavily bottled of all the Islay malts. From a small Victorian works it grew into one of Scotland's biggest malt distilleries.

Here the spirit was worked from peated malt for the lighter Islay style, building a refined, maritime peat. An American oak cask shaped it, soft and sweet beneath the peat. Early, extractive maturation draws vanillin (vanilla) and furfural (toasted almond) from the wood over a clean, phenolic smoke. Olive oil and lemon sit at the heart of the Caol Ila character. The original Victorian distillery was almost entirely rebuilt in the modern era. Port Askaig is a tiny settlement on the rugged east coast of Islay. Its spirit also feeds blends such as Bell's and Black Bottle. The clean spirit shows the cask clearly, which is why it suits so many wood types.

At 46% it is supple and oily. A fresh peat smoke over oily lemon, with a creamy oak note. Soft smoke and citrus sit behind the cask. The close is long, smoke over a citrus lift. This is a clean coastal malt with a lemony peat.