Caol Ila 12-Year-Old Single Malt Whisky 70cl

For over 100 years, small steamers supplied the Caol Ila distillery with barley, coal and empty casks. On their return journey to the mainland through the Islay Sound (known as Caol Ila in Gaelic), they would take the finished whisky with them. That is now a thing of the past, and other things have changed dramatically too: in 1974, for instance, the technically obsolete distillery was replaced by a new building. The six stills were faithfully recreated to ensure that the characteristic quality of Caol Ila whisky could be maintained in the new building. Yet much has remained unchanged: Caol Ila is still the only distillery on Islay that faces east and is the first to greet the rising sun each morning. The malted barley used here still comes from the Port Ellen malt house, and the spring water still rises from the limestone at the bottom of the nearby Loch nam Ban, before flowing as a small, crystal-clear stream directly into the sea right by the distillery. What’s more, the history lives on through the people: Billy Stitchell is now the manager of Caol Ila and has been working here for years, just as his father, grandfather and great-grandfather did before him.