Caol Ila 16 years old by Moon Import, The Sails in the Wind
Single Malt Scotch Whisky distilled in 1977 by the Caol Ila distillery, matured in hogsheads #4659 and #4660, and bottled by Moon Import in 1993 with approximate 16 years old, at 46% ABV as part of the The Sails in the Wind series.
The Sails in the Wind was a seven-part series released in 1993 and was remarkable in that five of the bottling were from Islay distilleries.
Moon Import was founded by Pepi Mongiardino in 1980 and he bottled his first whisky in 1982. Always beautifully labelled, Pepi is acclaimed for designing the packaging for Moon Import bottles himself, often using images found in old books.
Tasting Note: crystallized fruit, peat, honey, nougat, yellow fruits, ash smoke, red apples, oak.
The distillery Caol Ila is the largest distillery in Islay, but one of the least known. It was founded in 1846 by Hector Henderson who also owned the old Camlachie distillery in Glasgow.
As early as 1863 Bulloch Lade & Co take over the distillery and start selling malt for blended whisky.
By 1920 Bulloch Lade goes into liquidation and its sold to J.P. OBrien who quickly sells it to a Consortium of Distillers Company & Co (later became part of Diageo). In 1934 the distillery is reopened and restart production only until it close down in 1941.
After the war Caol Ila reopens and in 1972 production increase to attend the global demand for Scotch Whisky.
In 1974 the old distillery was demolished and a new one was built, with the production almost doubled from 2010 from 3.5 million to 6.5 million liters a year.
One of the reasons for the lack of fame of Caol Ila is explained by the fact that 90% of its production goes into a variety blended whisky including Johnny Walker Black Label.
Single malts from Caol Ila were available via independent bottlers until 2002.
The distillery uses the same malted barley that goes into Lagavulin, although the rest of the production process is very different, resulting in a much less peated whisky.
