Port Askaig 25 Years Old SMS Harbour (Speciality Drinks Ltd)

The bottler Speciality Drinks Ltd released this Caol Ila, a 25 year old, distilled in 1985, bottled at 45.8%. Caol Ila takes its name from the Gaelic for the Sound of Islay. The six tall stills sit behind picture windows looking out to Jura.

Here the spirit was run from peated malt through tall stills on Loch nam Ban water, shaping the lighter side of Islay. A refill bourbon hogshead held it, keeping the distillery character to the fore. At this oxidative, evaporative stage ellagitannins lend a polished, drying structure while slow oxidation brings waxy tropical fruit over a ghost of peat. Cool, damp warehousing slows the loss of the angel's share over the years. A clean smoke and a coastal salt define the distillery style. Long ageing turns the young, sharp peat into a soft, coastal smoke. Phenols from the peat smoke carry the medicinal, lemony edge through the years.

At 45.8% it is supple and oily. A clean maritime smoke with lemon and brine, with honeyed oak underneath. The texture is oily, the smoke threaded with citrus. The finish runs oily, smoky and clean. This is an Islay malt that wears its smoke lightly.