Caol Ila 9 Years Old 2012 Cask #319465 & 319470 (Signatory)

A Caol Ila drawn by the Pitlochry bottler Signatory Vintage, distilled in 2012, from cask 319465 & 319470, bottled at 46%. Caol Ila is the lighter, more elegant face of Islay smoke. Long fermentations build the fruity, citrus notes that sit beneath the smoke.

This was distilled in tall stills that lend the smoke an oily lightness, shaping the lighter side of Islay. A second fill bourbon cask kept the oak in the background. These first years are extractive, the oak giving lactones as coconut and vanillin as vanilla beneath a sharp, citrussy smoke. The tall stills and a high cut give a lighter, cleaner spirit than the southern Islays. Long ageing turns the young, sharp peat into a soft, coastal smoke. The spirit's high notes of lemon and grass survive even long maturation. The cool Islay air gives a slow, steady maturation by the shore. Diageo's Special Releases have featured both peated and unpeated Caol Ila.

At 46% it is clean and coastal. A clean ashy smoke with lime and brine, with a quiet vanilla under the smoke. Smoke, lemon and a saline minerality fill the middle. The finish is long, smoky and citrussy. This is an Islay malt that wears its smoke lightly.