Caol Ila 1996-2012 - 16 Year Old - The Whisky Castle - Single Cask 12565

Founded in 1846, Caol Ila distillery was taken over by Diageo forerunner DCL in 1927. The distillery was completely rebuilt in 1972-74 and now produces over 6 million litres annually, much of which goes into Johnnie Walker. The widespread belief that Caol Ila is Islay’s most underrated distillery has become a truth so universally acknowledged that it may no longer be true, though it remains in the shadow of Bowmore and the south coast distilleries. 

Official Caol Ilas were bottled sporadically before Diageo relaunched it as a single malt brand in 2002. A famous yellow label 12-year-old and a rare 15-year-old occasionally appeared under DCL’s Bulloch & Lade subsidiary from the 1960s onwards, and there was a short-lived Flora & Fauna 15-year-old in the late 1980s and a magnificent sherried 15-year-old Manager’s Dram bottled in 1990. Independent Caol Ila is abundant and always great value.

An institution in the Highland village of Tomintoul, where it was founded in 1904, The Whisky Castle is a family-run independent retailer and whisky bottler with a long but infrequent history of releasing some exceptional single malt whiskies.

The Whisky Castle began bottling their own-label single malts and blended whiskies in the early 1990s, and their Castle Collection range has included excellent drams from distilleries including Lochside, Ben Nevis, Caol Ila, Glenallachie, Bowmore and Springbank. The Whisky Castle’s releases are bottled without colouring or chill filtration and recent bottlings have been at either 46% or cask strength.