Caol Ila 8 Years Old

Caol Ila, a distillery release, an 8 year old, at 57.8%, 1476 bottles in all. Caol Ila is the most heavily bottled of all the Islay malts. The clean, lemony smoke has made it a favourite of blenders for generations.

The spirit was distilled from medium peated malt in tall copper stills, building a refined, maritime peat. Ex-Sherry wood added a dried fruit richness beneath the smoke. In these extractive early years the oak surrenders vanillin as vanilla and cis oak lactones as coconut, while guaiacol carries a vivid, lemony peat smoke. A clean smoke and a coastal salt define the distillery style. A gentle vanillin sweetness from the oak balances the coastal phenols. The original Victorian distillery was almost entirely rebuilt in the modern era. The clean, oily spirit takes cask flavour well while holding its citrus and smoke. Tall stills and a clean cut give the spirit its oily, lemony lightness.

At cask strength 57.8% it is muscular. Ashy smoke, lemon oil and a saline tang, with raisin, date and treacle from the cask. The texture is oily, the smoke threaded with citrus. It finishes smoky, oily and bright. This is a clean coastal malt with a lemony peat.