Whisky Caol Ila 2011

A 2011 Caol Ila single malt, matured in a koval cask for 9 years before being bottled in 2020. In the mouth it sums up all the contrasts of the region it comes from by bringing the earth and the sea together in a single sip.
In Gaelic Caol Ila means “Sound of Islay” founded in 1846 near Port Askaig in a remote bay of Islay, it is located in one of the wildest regions of the west coast of Scotland.

A 2011 Caol Ila single malt, matured in a first fill ex bourbon four grain cask for 9 years before being bottled in 2020. In the mouth it sums up all the contrasts of the region it comes from by bringing the earth and the sea together in a single sip.
In Gaelic Caol Ila means “Sound of Islay” founded in 1846 near Port Askaig in a remote bay of Islay, it is located in one of the wildest regions of the west coast of Scotland.

The distillery was founded near Port Askaig (on the east coast of Islay) in 1846 by Hector Henderson. The distillery, after a few changes of ownership, was merged into the DCL in 1927 and was completely rebuilt in 1972.

The malt is reduced to a floury substance. The grist, as the ground malt is called, is then placed in the mash tun where it is mixed with water from Loch Nam Ban, the small lake above the distillery, whose outlet flows right next to the bay. It is a water from a clayey soil that is not too peat which counterbalances the 34.5 ppm of phenols making the style of Caol Ila fresher and relatively less demanding than the other whiskeys of Islay. The liquid, coming from the mash tun, is placed in the fermentation vats, the wash backs. The eight wash backs, 6 meters high, are in Scottish larch wood.

143 bottles were produced from barrel number 900014.

Type / Subtype: Whisky / Single Malt Whisky

Vintage: 2011

Distillery: Caol Ila

Country: Scozia

Region: Islay

Bottler: Cuspid Selections

Series: Distillation novel

Alcoholic strength: 52,0%

Volume: 70cl

Years: 9

Bottling date: August 2020

Cold filtered: No

Colouring: No

N° of bottles: 143

Cask number: 90014

Peated: Sì

Peated

Appearance: bright gold.

Nose: Lively, on the first nose the balanced peat smoke, vanilla and the hint of wood are strongly amalgamated. If you let it breathe, the smoke becomes more intense and the aromatic palette reveals aromas of heather honey and ripe fruit (pear).

Palate: In harmony with the first nose, the attack is a subtle combination of waves of earthy smoke, ashy, seaweeds and vanilla notes that slowly clear the way to salted butter, fudge and meadow flowers

Finish: Lingering peat with a light touch of forest floor and seaweeds