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Wine Advocate (96)

This twelve-year-old Highland Single Malt was distilled in 2008 at the Blair Athol Distillery along the banks of the River Tummel. Drawn from a single, undersized 1st Fill Bourbon Barrel previously used by the Koval Distillery, it is a youthful pale golden colour with bright aromatics of red apple and pear as well as fine vanilla and warm baking spices. A generous, well-balanced highlander from one of the oldest distilleries in Scotland dating back to 1798, this is a personal favourite and a fitting first bottling of the Stiùbhart Single Cask Selection. Bottled at a natural cask strength of 58.9% without chill filtration or added colouring.

Whisky Bible (97)

Well-aged Caol Ila is one of the greatest pleasures for a whisky drinker and collector, with very few bottles reaching and exceeding the 30-year marker. This offering from legendary bottlers Gordon & MacPhail is a bona fide treasure for lovers of this most thrilling Islay single malt. Distilled in 1988 and matured for 31 years in a refill sherry butt, this is showing a delicately balanced profile combining the classic peat and maritime-infused spirit with the fine fruit flavours and svelte texture courtesy of the cask type. Just 422 bottles were drawn at natural cask strength of 51.4%.

Colour: Burnished brass.

Aroma: Classically Caol Ila nose of wild flowers, sea breeze and burnt citrus peel with a slight dried fruit richness complimenting the peat.

Taste: Much sweeter on the palate with stewed fruit and prunes alongside smokey peat ad black olive. A bit Côte-Rôtie like?

Finish: There is a satisfying persimmon and black pepper drying complexity on the peat-infused finish. A true-blue Islay-lovers malt par excellence.

A single cask Islay malt matured in undersized ex-Bourbon barrels previously used to mature Bourbon whiskey at the Koval Distillery, showcasing Caol Ila’s classic oily maritime qualities with aromas of sweet, earthy peat, sea breeze and iodine alongside pungent, warming spices evoking cinnamon, cumin, smoked pepper and cardamom. A finish laced with eucalyptus and dried mint makes for a restrained, finessed Islay with a long, dynamic finish. Bottled at a natural cask strength of 58.1% without colouring or filtration.

The second bottling from the Stewart Whisky Company in their Stiùbhart Single Cask selection, released in March 2021 at 13 years of age in a limited run of just 132 bottles.

One of the most iconic distilleries in Scotland, Caol Ila is a quintessential Islay malt with all the maritime and peat-infused qualities that make the island such a legendary splendid source of collectible Single Malt whisky.

The peat profile is somewhere between Lagavulin and Bowmore, with a satisfying dryness in comparison to the more oily Ardbeg and fresher than the medicinal TCP-like Laphroaig. The smoke is earthier than that of Lagavulin and the aromatic profile punchier than the likes of Bruichladdich. In essence, it is a perfect Islay; capturing this most famous of Hebridean isles.

Founded in 1846 in the village of Port Askaig on the the shores of the Sound of Islay (from which the distillery draws it's name in Gaelic) Caol Ila's still room enjoys breathtaking views across the waters of the sound to the Paps of Jura, a windswept, dramatic and powerfully elemental vista that seems like a physical manifestation of Caol Ila's one of a kind spirit.

Wine Spectator (98)

Stephen Tanzer - Vinous (93(+?))

James Suckling (98)

James Suckling (98)

James Suckling (98)

James Suckling (98)

Vinous (95)