Caol Ila Distillery

Located prominently on the western shore of the Sound of Islay, from which it takes its name in Gaelic, the Caol Ila Distillery lies a half-mile (0.8 km) north of Port Askaig on the Isle of Islay in Argyll and Bute. Established in 1846, by Glasgow-based distiller Hector Henderson, its foundation led to the formation of a small community on this part of the Islay coastline. Having grown and passed through several hands, Caol Ila was acquired by the Distillers Company Limited (DCL) in 1927. The distillery was demolished and rebuilt between 1972 and 1974, and DCL was taken over by Guinness in 1986, which combined DCL with Arthur Bell & Co. to form United Distillers. Guinness subsequently merged with Grand Metropolitan to form Diageo in 1997.

By the 1880s, Caol Ila was producing 670,000 litres of raw spirit each year. This distillery has been in almost continuous production since it opened, with only a brief period of closure during the Second World War and when it was rebuilt in 1972 to increase capacity. Now equipped with a 12-tonne cast-iron mash tun, eight 57,000-litre Oregon pine washbacks where fermentation takes place, and six copper stills for distillation (three 19,000-litre wash stills and three 12,500-litre spirit stills), its annual output is now 6,450,000 litres, making Caol Ila Distillery the largest producer of whisky on the island. Malt is sourced from Diageo's own Port Ellen Maltings, while water comes from Loch nam Ban.

Almost all of the modern production is sent in tankers to Alloa on the mainland to mature in oak casks, formerly used in the USA to store the bourbon. However, the prominent white-painted three-storey warehouse on the shore still contains older whisky. Although it makes its own Caol Ila malt whisky, most of the output is blended, the majority going into Johnnie Walker Black Label, and others including Bells. Caol Ila malt is bottled at Leven in Fife.

There are fine views towards Jura from the distillery.


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