Caol Ila 1998

A private cask release of Caol Ila, selected for our faithful Asian customers according to their taste, and bottled at a distinguished age: the finest balance between brash Islay intensity, and rounded maturity. It’s a particularly clean distillate, in which the typical peated flavours shine with strength and precision. The crescendo of smoke, ash, tar and iodine, like a bonfire on a beach in Scotland while the Ocean wind blows, builds from the first instant and then explodes on the palate. But while this bottling retains the full character of a peated Islay malt, it is also elegant and made approachable by the creamy sweetness of the malt and by its long maturation which smoothened the edges. Robust and full bodied, but elegant.