Consecutive owners included Henderson, Lamont & Co (1852-1854),
Norman Buchanan (1863-1879) and Bulloch, Lade & Co (proprietors
of Camlachie) who rebuilt and expanded the distillery. Caol Ila was
liquidated and sold to J. P. O'Brien Ltd in 1920, who in turn sold it to
Caol Ila Distillery Co Ltd. the same year. DCL took control in 1927 and
transferred Caol Ila to SMD in 1930 who shut it down. Caol Ila was
silent until 1937 and had to close down during part of WWII as well.

The Caol Ila distillery on Islay is located near Port Askaig, on the
northeast corner of the island. It's quite isolated, it's closest neighbor
being the Bunnahabhain distillery. Caol Ila was built in 1846 by Hector
Henderson who also owned the old Camlachie distillery in Glasgow.  

These were the only periods Caol Ila was silent; despite the many changes in ownership Caol Ila has been in production almost constantly since 1846. After World War II, things proceeded relatively uneventful at Caol Ila for a few decades before it was rebuilt and extended from two to six stills between 1972 and 1974. The distillery was completely rebuilt in order to meet increased demand from the blenders, only the warehouses (still filled with maturing whisky) were spared. After 1974 Caol Ila started to buy their malted barley from the Port Ellen maltings. Some connoisseurs make a clear distinction between the heavier 'old' Caol Ila that was produced before 1972 and the lighter, cleaner spirit that was distilled after the expansion in 1974.

The Caol Ila distillery became part of the United
Distillers conglommerate in 1986. In 1989 the first
'semi-official' bottling of Caol Ila was released in
the 'Fauna & Flora' range. This would be the only
official bottling in a long time (not counting the
releases in UDV's 'Rare Malts' series). Fortunately,
official bottlings are widely available these days.

Caol Ila's current 'core range' was introduced in 2002.
Apart from the standard 12yo, 18yo and Cask Strength bottlings, Diageo releases occasional single
cask bottlings as well. When casks of Lagavulin and Laphroaig became harder to acquire after the
year 2000, independent bottlers started to release more and more private and 'bastard' bottlings.

1) After the distillery was remodeled and expanded in 1974 to better suit the needs of blenders Caol Ila introduced a novel new whisky for blenders in the mid 1980's: an unpeated malt whisky known as 'Caol Ila Highland '. When I write this I haven't tried that whisky yet - and maybe I never will. After all, the product was intended for blending and most if not all casks would thus have gone to blenders for... erm... blending.

2) The name Caol Ila (pronounced as 'kul-eela' and easily misspelled as Coal Ila) is Gaelic for 'Sound of Islay' and is probably inspired by the location of the distillery along the stretch of water between Islay and Jura.

3) Since most blenders were not in the habit of storing their casks for very long (with the exception of Douglas Laing, perhaps) there probably are not that many casks of Caol Ila Highland around - if any at all......

Here are my notes on the 'core range' OB's, followed by a selection of my personal favourites.

Caol Ila NAS 'Cask Strength' (55%, OB, Bottled +/- 2004)
Nose: Grainy, then paint thinner. Harsh and quite odd. Later more organics emerge. Something coastal.
Is that peat? Yeah, it seems to be. More peat, organics and complexity in the nose with time.
Taste: The obvious high proof gives it substance. Wonderfully sweet and peaty on the palate.
Score: 86 points - it's far from perfect, but there's a lot of fun to be had here.
My surprised response: Haha; another Caol Ila OB that seems on the way up.

Caol Ila 12yo (43%, OB, Bottled +/- 2004)
Nose: Hey, this is a peaty one again. Lovely! Light and transparent with organics. Leather.
Brine. There's a fruity sweetness as well. Now I get some more spices - really quite lovely.
Great development and complexity. The nose just needs some time. Opens up quite nicely.
Taste: Oy, not quite as powerful as I'd expected. Watery start, then sweet and peaty.
It becomes more powerful after a few seconds; big peaty burn - but just a little too 'flat'.
Score: 84 points - Plenty of fun to be had here, although it's not very 'deep'.

Caol Ila 18yo (43%, OB, Bottled +/- 2004)
Nose: Much lighter than the previous blinds. Sweet grains. Then hints of oil, opening up.
Spices. Yes, I think I finally get some peat - not a lot, though. Another malt that needs time.
Taste: Very weak start, then drier with the faintest hint of liquorice. Gritty. Then sweeter.
Score: 82 points - a little too dry; not the good sherry drought, but the bourbon kind.

Caol Ila 25yo 1970/2005 (58,4%, OB)
Nose: Very hard to classify. Restrained & pretty austere in the nose but friendlier and fruitier on the palate.
Opens up after some time and water - but it demands attention. Clean peat, but this is not a peat monster.
Taste: Beer? Hey, and then I thought I found a pinch of peat. Dry finish. It livened up after I added water.
Score: 84 points - with enough time and water that is...

The first three of these are the three main bottlings in the range of 'official' bottlings.
Since this range was first released in the early noughties I've sampled mostly independent bottlings.
Some of the very best among these have been the following bottlings;

Caol Ila 12yo 1992/2005 (46%, Whisky Galore)
Nose: Peculiar. Faint organics with something grainy in the background. Opens up with light fruits.
Is that a hint of peat? Yes it is, and it grows more prominent with time. Some meaty notes as well.
It was a little too bashful for my tastes at first, but over time it develops a wonderful complexity.
Taste: Sweet and softly peated. Peanut fleece. Smokier towards the centre. Lovely - a gentle peat monster...
Score: 90 points - this malt needs a little time to reach its prime, but when it does you're in for a treat.
Ah yeah, I LOVE it. Not overly complex, but it fits my nose and palate like a glove! 90 points it is!

Caol Ila 1993/2005 (59.9%, Adelphi, Cask #6779)
Nose: Lemon and dust. Grainy. Not much else, it seems. After a long time some peat emerges - but not a lot.
Taste: Wow. A super sweet punch, only slowly revealing a peatier side. Oh, what lovely peat! Smoke too.
Brilliant mouth feel. Some fruits. Liquorice. Salami. Hot and cold at the same time. Liquorice & cinnamon.
Score: 89 points - one of the few malts that reaches the 90's mainly on the palate. What a stunner!
Aaaah! A hot & heavy peat monster! Right up my alley, but not quite 90's material...

Caol Ila 15yo 1969 (40%, Connoisseurs Choice, Old Map Label) - distilled before distillery refit (!)
The nose was very rich with lots of organics. Peat, of course, but that's just the 'foundation'.
I probably would have mistaken it for an Ardbeg in a blind test. This is a highly enjoyable dram.
Taste: It performed excellent on the palate as well; much more character and depth than other CC's.
Very powerful with just that hint of bitterness in the finish that makes you long for one more dram.
Score: 89 points - this came very close to becoming my favourite ever Caol Ila. A blast from the past.

Caol Ila 21yo 1975/1997 (61.3%, UD Rare Malts)
Nose: Peaty, flowery, smoky, oily, salty. Changed quite a bit when adding water.
The sweetness became more obvious and more like molasses - both in nose and in taste.
Taste: Quite drinkable after two splashes of water (to maybe 45 Vol% alc.), but still numbing.
Score: 90 points - Great stuff... Oh, man. This malt has got it all...

Caol Ila 22yo 1984/2007 (55.9%, The Whisky Fair, Sherry, 287 Bts.)
Nose: Very rich, with interesting old fruity notes. Becomes extremely rich and complex after a while.
Definitely not a 'clean' Caol Ila according to the house style, but all the more to my liking for it.
Shows a gentler side after some more breathing - some faint fruity and candy notes. Menthol?
Taste: Tobacco. Rich fruits. Leather. Some salt at the bottom. Then the smoke is released. Beautiful.
Score: 90 points - a beautiful marriage of smoke and sherry; of the spirit and the cask.
In a blind tasting I could have misinterpreted this as a Kildalton whisky...

Caol Ila 24yo 1975 (54.3%, Wilson & Morgan)
Nose had organics, a little oil and plenty of peat. Very 'farmy'. Cow stable. Leather. Quite unique.
The style is very much that of a 'Kildalton' malt whisky - just like the 2004 W&M 'House Malt'.
Taste: There was a subdued peatiness on the palate, growing stronger. No sweetness at all.
I usually like my malts quite sweet, but in this case it works for me. The last few drops were the best.
Score: 89 points - almost 'legendary' 90's material, but I prefer the 'dirtier' Islays myself.

Caol Ila 25yo 1979/2004 (61.2%, Blackadder for Sun Favourite Taiwan, Hogshead #5334, 44 bottles)
Nose: Aaaah. Lovely sweet peat in the start, developing into an unusual direction. Shoe polish. Quite unique.
Gasoline. Rubber. Something medicinal. Laphroaig or an old Ardbeg? Faint horse stable aroma's. Magnificent!
Taste: Sweet peat as well. Magnificent explosion of peat and smoke after a few seconds. Salted liquorice.
Score: 90 points - maybe not a 'perfect' malt, but it fits my nose like a glove. Not for everyone, though.
Some nice meaty notes now as well. Oh boy, this really is a 'rusty nail' malt. Liquid paint stripper...

These were not all the (official and independent) expressions of Caol Ila I've tried over the years.
My Track Record used to contain a complete overview of all the single malts I've tried, but when I passed the 2000 malts mark (and the list wouldn't fit on two seperate HTML pages anymore) I gave up. My Liquid Log still contains my tasting notes on most malts I've sampled and scored - but finding notes on a specific expression could be tricky. You might want to use the search box at the top of this page for that. The mAlmanac now contains personal selections of the best and the worst single malts I've tried so far - as well as the ones with the highest 'Bang-For-Your-Buck' value. Check out the Malt Maniacs Monitor on Malt Maniacs for my scores on all expressions I've tried so far - and those of almost all the other certified malt maniacs as well. The Malt Maniacs Matrix contains a few thousand single malts that were sampled and scored by at least four different malt maniacs, so you can compare our individual opinions.