Port Askaig 8 Year
$79.99
Peatheads, rejoice! For those searching for a fix of sharp, young peat and bucketloads of billowy smoke, look no further. Port Askaig is a wee ferry port off the east coast of the isle of Islay. Its proximity to two of the island's most unfairly overlooked distilleries should give some sort of clue as to the pedigree of this neat little treat of a dram. Your choices are either Caol Ila or Bunnahabhain, and let's just say the answer rhymes with Caol Ila (Do you know how hard it is to rhyme in Gaelic?!).
If you know the distillery's character you'll immediately be able to see it all over this one. A true value whisky too. 45.8% abv, uncolored and non-chill-filtered.
Port Askaig 28 Year
$499.99
This whisky was featured on Day 5 of our 2023 KWM UBER Whisky Calendar. You can read Evan's blog post on it here.
Bottled at 45.8%, after maturing in Refill American Oak Hogsheads, this 28 year old Mystery Islay Single Malt scored 90pts with @WhiskyFun. While the blogosphere seems to think this is Caol Ila, we were told by the bottler they strongly believed it to be Laphroaig. Curious, but either way, it is an amazingly good old Islay Single Malt Scotch at a stellar price!
Cut Point Caol Ila 2011 Single Cask
$139.99
Excellent young Caol Ila from local darlings Cut/Point. This is brash and loud-mouthed young Caol Ila, make no mistake, but there's also a sort of hidden complexity here; not in the sense that it's tough to unravel, but more like there's a rather difficult balance being struck here. There's a lot of youth on display - which is great when drinking peated whisky, as youth generally equals big smokiness - but it drinks far from underripe. A style that perfectly suggests the aromas you'll encounter at the distillery.
279 bottles from ex-Bourbon Hogshead #307974. 56.6%
Maltbarn Caol Ila 2007
$299.99
Caol Ila, more than any other Islay single malt, seems to marry really well with sherry casks. We expect this 15-year-old to be no exception. A small outturn of only 153 bottles, only a handful of which came to KWM. 88.44pts Whiskybase
Natural colour, non-chill filtered, and bottled at 52.1% abv
Moonbroch Caol Ila 2007 14 Year
$244.99
This Moonbroch bottling of Caol Ila was distilled in August of 2007, and matured 14 years in a Hogshead before bottling at 51.8%.
Cooper`s Choice Caol Ila 14 Year
$209.99
This 2008 vintage Caol Ila was fully matured for 14 years in ex-Bourbon Cask before bottling at 51%.
G&M Connoisseurs Choice Caol Ila 1998
$449.99
Is there a more consistent Islay Distillery than Caol Ila? Not likely. The distillery delivers the goods regardless of the cask it is aged in, or the age of the release. When it is matched with indie bottler Gordon & MacPhail, you know you are in for something good. This G&M bottling of Caol Ila was distilled in 1998 and spend its entire 25 years maturing in a first fill sherry butt. It is bottled at 56.7%
Signatory 100 Proof Caol Ila 13 Year
$124.99
This 13 year old 100 Proof Caol Ila was matured in Oloroso Sherry Butts and Refill Hogsheads before bottling at 57.1%.
Whiskyland Ch.5 Caol Ila 32 Year
$1,249.99
51.8% - 1992 - Refill Hogshead 90.86pts Whiskybase
Producer Description
"It’s a glorious old Caol Ila that tastes like a heavily peated oyster dive-bombing a mug of green tea. In a hospital. Near the sea..."