Caol Ila 8 Years Old 2016 Cask #2000120 (Murray McDavid)

The independent Murray McDavid released this Caol Ila, an 8 year old, distilled in 2016, from cask 2000120, bottled at 54.9%, one of 237 bottles. Caol Ila is the smoky backbone of the Johnnie Walker blends. A few weeks each year the distillery runs an unpeated, Highland style spirit.

The spirit was worked from peated malt for the lighter Islay style, for an oily smoke that leans to lemon and brine. A first fill sherry cask drove a deep, figgy, nutty character. Young and extractive, the cask sheds vanillin (vanilla) and toasted hemicellulose sugars (a light caramel) fast, the phenols still sharp and medicinal. Long ageing turns the young, sharp peat into a soft, coastal smoke. Time in oak deepens the oily body while the maritime smoke stays bright. The spirit's lightness lets sherry, wine and bourbon casks all show through.

At a hearty 54.9% it carries real weight. A coastal peat with citrus and pepper, with dried fruit, fig and walnut from the cask. It is clean and coastal, the peat and lemon to the fore. A long maritime smoke closes it. This is an Islay malt that wears its smoke lightly.