Caol Ila Peat Fires & Autumn Fruits (The Vintage Malt Whisky Co Ltd.)

The bottler The Vintage Malt Whisky Co Ltd released this Caol Ila, from cask 0560, bottled at 50%, one of 720 bottles. Caol Ila is the lighter, more elegant face of Islay smoke. Long fermentations build the fruity, citrus notes that sit beneath the smoke.

Distilled slowly from peated malt for a refined island smoke, for the clean island smoke prized by blenders. Maturation in a fortified cask lent red fruit and a soft spice. Carrying no age, the cask shows vanillin (vanilla) and a coconut from oak lactones, the phenols lending a clean medicinal smoke. Caol Ila's smoke leans to lemon, olive oil and brine rather than tar or iodine. The oily texture comes from the spirit cut, the cask adding depth around it. The medium peating leaves a smoke that is firm but never heavy. Maturation by the sea gives the malt its mineral, sea spray character.

Bottled at a cask strength 50%, it is intense. A coastal peat with citrus and pepper, with plum and red berry from the cask. Soft smoke and citrus sit behind the cask. It finishes smoky, oily and bright. This is one of the most versatile of the Islay malts.