Caol Ila 8 Years Old 2009 Cask #314668 + 314669 (Signatory)

From the Pitlochry bottler Signatory Vintage, an 8 year old Caol Ila, distilled in 2009, from cask 314668 + 314669, bottled at 46%. Caol Ila takes its name from the Gaelic for the Sound of Islay. From a small Victorian works it grew into one of Scotland's biggest malt distilleries.

Distilled slowly from peated malt for a refined island smoke, for a clean, coastal, oily make. A refill bourbon hogshead held it, keeping the distillery character to the fore. These first years are extractive, the oak giving lactones as coconut and vanillin as vanilla beneath a sharp, citrussy smoke. A gentle vanillin sweetness from the oak balances the coastal phenols. The oily texture comes from the spirit cut, the cask adding depth around it. The peat here is medium rather than heavy, so fruit and smoke share the glass. Phenols from the peat smoke carry the medicinal, lemony edge through the years.

At an approachable 46% it is balanced. A lemony Islay smoke over olive oil, with a creamy oak note. Soft smoke and citrus sit behind the cask. Smoke and sea salt see out a long finish. This is an Islay malt that wears its smoke lightly.