Tasting Notes for Caol Ila - 7 Year Old (2013) Signatory Vintage
Nose: Smoky and marked by ash. Charcoal, menthol, malted barley, citrus, liquorice, earthy notes.
Palate: Oily and peaty. Tar, salted lemons, camphor, linseed oil, orchard fruits.
Finish: Long, oily and smoky.
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Caol Ila 2013 Signatory Reserve will delight lovers of whiskies that come from the peaty, iodine-rich island of Islay. Lightly influenced by its ageing in ex-bourbon casks, this Caol Ila has a salty and smoky flavour profile, marked by notes of coal, camphor and preserved lemons. Like the Un-Chillfiltered Collection, the whiskies in the Very Cloudy range are bottled in small batches of two to five casks. Reduced to 40% without either chill filtering or colouring, they have a rich, intensely aromatic character and a slightly cloudy appearance.
Caol Ila is the Gaelic name for the Sound of Islay, which separates the island from Jura in one of the most remote and beautiful parts of Scotland's West Coast. The distillery is situated on the shores of the Sound, a spot originally chosen in 1846 partly because of the clean water from Loch Nam Ban which still provides its main supply. And even today you can still watch the seals in the Sound from the still room.
In the classic Islay style, Caol Ila is made predominantly with peated malt and the resulting phenols have a big influence on the final flavour of the whisky, as do the large onion shaped stills which impart Caol Ila’s light and delicate character, along with the salty coastal air that the casks ‘breathe’ during maturation.
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Signatory was founded in 1988 by Andrew and Brian Symington and is best known for their Signatory Vintage Scotch Whisky independent bottlings including their Cask Strength and Un-Chill Filtered collections. The name ‘Signatory’ was derived from the initial intention to find a person of suitable standing to sign the labels for bottles drawn from a single cask. The first cask bottled was a 1968 Glenlivet which quickly sold, though long before any suitable signee could be found. With the initial plan to have all their bottles signed by the great and the good long since abandoned, Signatory went on to become one of the largest and most respected independent whisky bottlers.
Signatory currently bottle at four strengths: 40% Very Cloudy, 43%, 46% Un-chill filtered (UCF) and Cask Strength. To add proof of authenticity to their cask strength bottlings, Signatory always include the cask numbers, date of distillation, date of bottling and number of bottles produced. Signatory Vintage’s aim is to offer as wide a range of whiskies as possible, some of which are not even bottled by the proprietary distillery. This allows malt enthusiast to sample the huge variety of subtle differences which occur between casks.
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Producer Caol Ila Distillery for Signatory Vintage Style Single Malt Scotch Whisky Age 7 Years Volume 70CL ABV 40%