Caol Ila 9 Years Old 2009 Cask #348034 & 348038 (James Eadie)

The bottler James Eadie selected this Caol Ila, a 9 year old, distilled in 2009, from cask 348034 & 348038, bottled at 56.7%, one of 629 bottles. Caol Ila stands below a steep brae on Islay's rugged east shore. Diageo's Special Releases have featured both peated and unpeated Caol Ila.

It was distilled in tall stills that lend the smoke an oily lightness, giving a clean, lemony peat. A sherry butt held it, the wood lending raisin and walnut. In its extractive youth the spirit takes vanillin vanilla and lactone coconut quickly, the peat phenols vivid and lemony. The clean spirit shows the cask clearly, which is why it suits so many wood types. Years in oak round the smoke, the peat mellowing while the brine stays. Tall stills and a clean cut give the spirit its oily, lemony lightness. Active wood frames the smoke without smothering the citrus beneath.

At its natural 56.7% it is concentrated. A coastal peat with citrus and pepper, with a dry, nutty, savoury depth from the cask. Smoke, lemon and a saline minerality fill the middle. Smoke and sea salt see out a long finish. This is the smoky malt of the Sound of Islay.