en
WI IT
Caol Ila
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Caol Ila
Caol Ila has its home on the island of Islay, near Port Askaig in the north-eastern corner of the island; its Gaelic name means "Sound of Islay", the name of the narrow stretch of sea overlooked by the distillery that separates Islay from the island of Jura.
Caol Ila was founded in 1846 by Hector Henderson. Henderson reckoned that the natural ingredients found in that area would make it possible to create a single malt of the very highest quality; unfortunately, however, his venture at Caol Ila did not last long, and nor did those of his successors: the distillery passed into the hands of Norman Buchanan and, a few years later, to Bulloch Lade & Co., a Glasgow-based blending company. By 1880 Caol Ila was producing more than 600,000 litres of whisky a year, all of which was sent to Glasgow, to the head office of Bulloch Lade & Co., to make their own blends. In 1920 the distillery was bought by JP O'Brien Ltd, which sold it on that same year to Caol Ila Distillery & Co., and finally, in 1927, the Distillers Company (today Diageo) began acquiring the distillery, becoming the owner of all its shares three years later.
It has to be said that, despite its many changes of ownership, Caol Ila never stopped making whisky. The only periods of closure were from 1930 to 1937 (because of Prohibition in the United States and the world crisis that followed) and for much of the Second World War (as with the vast majority of distilleries). To meet growing demand, in 1972 the distillery was completely demolished and rebuilt (the work took around two years), the stills went from 2 to 6, and only the 3 old warehouses were left standing. Although new, the stills were built by craftsmen who faithfully reproduced their original shape, so as to keep the distinctive flavour and quality of Caol Ila intact.
Today the distillery has an annual production capacity of 6,500,000 litres and is the largest distillery on Islay (roughly a quarter of all the malt whisky distilled on the island is made by Caol Ila), yet of its entire output only 5% is matured as single malt yet, with most of it used as a component in blends such as Bell's, White Horse, Johnnie Walker and Black Bottle.
Did you know? The water used comes from Loch Nam Ban and still runs crystal clear down to the sea, just as it always has, while the barley used comes from Port Ellen. Then there is tradition: people who have worked in the distillery for years, in some cases for several generations. One generation after another, an unbroken line of tradition and essential expertise. This is how products of absolute quality are born, and this is how Caol Ila is born — a whisky that takes its flavour from the sea, a real discovery.
