Caol Ila Cl9 ElD Elements of Islay (Elixir)

Caol Ila, from Sukhinder Singh's Elixir Distillers, bottled at 51.6%. Caol Ila looks out across the Sound to the Paps of Jura. The warehouses are ranged along the rocky shore at the water's edge.

The spirit was drawn off the distillery's six tall stills from peated barley, for a smoky spirit with a citrus lift. A bourbon barrel held it, the oak lending vanilla and a little cream. With no age statement, the oak has given up its vanillin as vanilla and its oak lactones as coconut, set against the lemony guaiacol of the peat smoke. A slow maturation in the cool island air keeps the spirit fresh and oily. Time in oak deepens the oily body while the maritime smoke stays bright. Diageo's Special Releases have featured both peated and unpeated Caol Ila. Much of the spirit leaves the island by sea to mature on the mainland. From a small Victorian works it grew into one of Scotland's biggest malt distilleries.

At its natural 51.6% it is concentrated. A fresh peat smoke over oily lemon, with vanilla and a soft caramel from the wood. The palate is oily and smoky, with a green citrus lift. Ash, lemon and brine draw out the close. This is a clean coastal malt with a lemony peat.