Fairly wide availability

Recommended!

For the details…

Caol Ila was founded in 1846 by Hector Henderson. The distillery is located in the town of Port Askaig, which gives its name to a single malt brand that is frequently sourced from Caol Ila. The plant faces across the Sound of Islay (the “caol ila” in Gaelic) toward the neighboring island of Jura. 

Caol Ila came under the umbrella of Diageo precursor DCL in 1927. In 1972, DCL demolished the original distillery and built a modern facility in a similar vein to another distillery held by the firm, Clynelish in the northeastern Highlands, with vast windows opening from the stillhouse onto the sound. During the rebuild, the number of stills was upped from 2 to 6; Caol Ila is currently the largest producer in terms of capacity on Islay, and provides peated fillings for Diageo’s numerous blends, as well as limited supplies of single malt. When the long-shuttered Port Ellen reopens later this year, Caol Ila will be one of three Diageo facilities on Islay. 

Gordon & MacPhail is arguably Scotland’s most iconic independent bottler. Founded in 1895 by James Gordon and John Alexander MacPhail, the firm started life as a grocer and wine merchant based in the Speyside town of Elgin. John Urquhart joined the firm within a year of its inception, and was the senior partner by 1915. He soon began developing a whisky-brokering business and laying down casks for blending or bottling as singles. 

Still owned by the Urquhart family, Gordon & MacPhail continues to operate their shop in Elgin, but they are probably best known today as an independent bottler, and it is thanks to their work on this front that whisky connoisseurs have enjoyed the opportunity to try malts from many Scottish distilleries that were never widely promoted by their owners. The most iconic Gordon & MacPhail brands are the Connoisseur’s Choice range (it has gone through various iterations; now most bottlings in the range are single cask, cask strength offerings) and the Distillery Labels range, which has showcased “semi-official” bottlings of malts often neglected by their owners. 

The Discovery range is a relatively new addition to the portfolio, with the emphasis on providing introductory whiskies highlighting key flavor profiles. This 13 year old Caol Ila is meant to introduce drinkers to the smoky, peated flavors of Islay. It’s a genuinely tasty dram with a fair amount of fruit–especially slightly underripe banana–to go along with smoke and brine. The only slight knock here is the presentation at 43% abv with no specification on chill-filtration or added color (although the pale color suggests that no spirit caramel has been added), however, given that the range isn’t necessarily targeted at the enthusiast market, that is understandable.

Caol Ila 13 year old – Gordon & MacPhail (Discovery) 43% abv

Nose: Fruity, sweet and gently smoky. Lots of green, underripe banana. Dutch baby with blueberry compote and powdered sugar. A beach bonfire of driftwood and dried seaweed.

Body: Rather light, slightly prickly like brine.

Palate: Lots of brined green olives. Charcoal. Gently peppery. There’s still some slightly underripe banana. A nice balance between a new fruitiness, gentle smokiness, and a slight, saline edge.

Finish: Becoming sootier; lime pith. Drier and more austere, but even here there’s some (now very underripe) banana. Short to medium.

Score: 86/100

Who should buy it?: Anyone, especially those looking for an introduction to the more intense flavors of Islay that won’t run roughshod over their tastebuds. 

Overall thoughts: A really nice dram. As always, I’d like to see natural presentation and the benchmark 46% abv, but that’s nitpicking. This is an excellent, crowd-pleasing whisky.

Bottling Information:

Expression: Caol Ila 13 year old – Gordon & MacPhail (Discovery) 43% abv

Bottler: Gordon & MacPhail

Range: Discovery

Bottle Code: 28/09/20 20/6030

Presentation: Unspecified

Details: n/a

Price: $50-80

Availability: This is pretty widely available, although not even close to universal. You’re local specialty shop might carry it if they carry G&M stuff generally; Whisky Exchange, Hard to find Whisky and similar will definitely have it.

Distillery Information:

Region: Islay

Location: Port Askaig

Geography: Coastal

Date Founded: 1846

Owner: Diageo

Website: https://www.malts.com/en-us/

Capacity: 6,500,000

Plant Summary: MASH TUN: Lauter; WASHBACKS: 8 wood, 2 steel; STILLS: 6; HEAT SOURCE: Steam; CONDENSER: Shell and Tube

Total expressions sampled: 4

Overall distillery score: A+
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