Caol Ila 8 Years Old 2012 Cask #DMG 15291 (Douglas McGibbon)

The bottler Douglas McGibbon bottled this Caol Ila, an 8 year old, distilled in 2012, from cask DMG 15291, bottled at 48%, one of 417 bottles. Caol Ila is Diageo's largest Islay distillery. Its spirit also feeds blends such as Bell's and Black Bottle.

Worked from peated barley through the distillery's tall stills, for the clean island smoke prized by blenders. Refill American oak let the spirit speak, adding a quiet honeyed note. Early, extractive maturation draws vanillin (vanilla) and furfural (toasted almond) from the wood over a clean, phenolic smoke. Years in oak round the smoke, the peat mellowing while the brine stays. The clean, oily spirit takes cask flavour well while holding its citrus and smoke. Phenols from the peat smoke carry the medicinal, lemony edge through the years. The oily texture comes from the spirit cut, the cask adding depth around it.

At a natural 48% it is full and oily. A clean peat with sea salt and citrus, with a creamy oak note. A maritime salt and a lemon lift run through it. A long maritime smoke closes it. This is an Islay malt that wears its smoke lightly.