When you come off the Afternoon ferry at Port Askaig and head west , this is the first distillery you see sign posted .Turning off the main road you head along a single track road and into the small , pretty village of Caol Ila , below this down a winding little road lies the distillery . Built in 1846 , Caol Ila (pronounced cull - eela , meaning "sound of Islay" ) , it was radically modernised in the 1970's . It is owned by Diageo and is used in the Bells and Johnnie Walkers blend.
If it wasn't for the mighty Ardbeg , this one would probably be my favourite Islay, if you get it at a young age it can be extremely smoky and iodiney (germolene) but a few of the older recent SMWS bottlings have been this as well ! The standard bottling was at 15 years old ( the flora and fauna range with a seal on the label ) but this has been discontinued and now there are 3 bottlings in the "Hidden Malts" Series (a 12yo , a 18yo and a caskstrength bottling) . They have also released a few older bottlings under the Rare Malts range . There have been a load of independent releases including a few young ones from the Scotch Malt Whisky Society ( 7yo , worth trying just for the extra kick ), Coopers choice also do an excellent young release . For a malt that was rarely released as a single , its certainly fairly common now .

If you want to see a modern distillery in action , this is the one for you . Tours are Monday to Friday by appointment ( Tel. 01496 - 840207 ) . One thing to watch out for on the tour is the view from the stillhouse window across the sound of Islay to the Paps of Jura . For more information on this distillery go to the www.malts.com site .