Caol Ila 8 Years Old 2015 100 Proof Edition #10 (Signatory)

100 Proof – Edition #10

700ml / 57.1%

Single Malt

$78

The Pitlochry bottler Signatory Vintage picked this Caol Ila, an 8 year old, at 57.1%. Lemon, brine and a clean smoke over an oily body, with dried fruit, fig and walnut from the cask. Most of its make goes into the Johnnie Walker blends. Its casks mature within sound of the sea. This is a versatile Islay single malt from Port Askaig.

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SKU CIL927 Categories Caol Ila, Islay, Scottish Whisky, Whiskey Brand: Caol Ila

Description

An 8 year old Caol Ila from the Pitlochry bottler Signatory Vintage, bottled at 57.1%. Caol Ila was rebuilt in the 1970s into the large distillery it is today. Port Askaig is a tiny settlement on the rugged east coast of Islay.

This was worked from peated barley through the distillery's tall stills, for a smoke more elegant than heavy. Ex-Sherry wood added a dried fruit richness beneath the smoke. Young and extractive, the cask sheds vanillin (vanilla) and toasted hemicellulose sugars (a light caramel) fast, the phenols still sharp and medicinal. The spirit's high notes of lemon and grass survive even long maturation. Time in oak deepens the oily body while the maritime smoke stays bright. A clean smoke and a coastal salt define the distillery style. Phenols from the peat smoke carry the medicinal, lemony edge through the years.

Bottled at a cask strength 57.1%, it is intense. Sea spray, smoke and a citrus lift, with dried fruit, fig and walnut from the cask. A sea salt and an olive oil note sit under the smoke. A long, briny finish ends on lemon and soft smoke. This is a maritime, lemony Islay single malt.