Side by side : An indie Caol Ila flight

The Caol Ila distillery is a huge whisky factory on Islay producing single malts for bottling and for use in Diageo's blends.

Known for it's maritime peat Caol Ila is often 'finished' by Indie bottlers, here I'll try five.

Caol Ila distillery was founded in 1846 by Hector Henderson, it's name is derived from Gaelic Caol Ìle for "Sound of Islay" (lit. "Islay Strait"). The distillery, like nearby Bunnahabhain, overlooks the strait between Islay and Jura. The distillery did not fare well, and changed hands in 1854 when Norman Buchanan, owner of the Isle of Jura Distillery, took over.

Changing ownership a number of times through the years until 1927 the Distillers Company Limited took over. Most of the distillery buildings were demolished in 1972 with a new bigger distillery built on the site increasing the site from two to six stills, spirit flowed again 2 years later. Most of the output went into the Chivas Regal and Johnnie Walker blends.

A stainless steel semi lauter mash tun is used to make the heavily peated wash, although occasionally an unpeated batch is made. Eight wooden and two steel washbacks ferment the wash for at least 55 hours.

Photo: Euans Guide

Three Wash stills and three Spirit stills using shell and tube condenser distil a new make to around 70% ABV.

So which Independent Bottlers are we trying today?

Langside Distillers is part of Hunter Laing. The Hepburn’s Choice range comprises whiskies bottled either from specially-selected single casks or from small batches of 2 to 3 casks, bottled at 46% naturally coloured NCF	The Single Cask Ltd is an independent bottler founded in 2010 and initially called Malt Vault. They bottle single casks in their uniquely shaped bottles.	Morrison is an independent bottler originally founded in 1982 as Morrison & MacKay who have since gone their own way. Their main branding is Càrn Mòr.	The Scotch Malt Whisky Society was founded in 1983 when a group of friends clubbed together to buy a cask of fine malt whisky. They now sell their bottles to their thousands of members.	The Whisky Broker was established in 2010, we aim to source and sell casks of whisky to enthusiasts and clubs wishing to purchase larger quantities of whisky at cheaper prices per bottle.

Let's see how their whiskies taste:

Dram	2010 8yo Hepburn's Choice [Langside Distillers]	2007 12yo Single Cask #307362 [The Single Cask Ltd]	2012 7yo Càrn Mòr [Morrison]	2012 8yo 53.336 Fruitcake ‘Islay-style'  [SMWS]	2010 9yo Single Cask #300751 [Whisky Broker]
Characteristics	46% ABV Refill Hogshead 329 bottles	57.8% ABV Ex-bourbon 144 bottles	47.5% ABV 3x Sherry Butts 1,324 bottles	60.7% ABV 1st Fill STR Barrique Finish 287 bottles	58.7% ABV Red Wine Barrique 263 bottles
Bottler notes	Nose: Lemon zest & sweet malt, with distinct aromas of maritime smoke, lychee & a spicy ginger note. Palate: Peat smoke, summer berries dusted with icing sugar, lemon sponge cake, cinnamon & grassy malt. Finish: Fresh hay, oak spice, heather honey & bonfire ash.	Nose: Flamed orange peel and fragrant peat leads into lime curd and oaky vanilla, with a green herbaceous undertone.. Palate: Leafy herbs and smoky malt, with smoky tea leaves alongside fresh citrus. Finish: Creamy vanilla appears on a suitably smoky finish, with a dash of oily malt.	Nose: Tarry ropes and slated butter on crumpets, plus marmalade sweetness developing. Palate: The sherried richness comes into play here, with sultana and malt loaf. Still coastal and smoky. Finish: Sea salt and black pepper crisps, Dairy Milk chocolate.	A stunning 8 year old single cask from Caol Ila, this dram has a lovely smoked Tabasco and burnt salted caramel flavour profile, thanks to its maturation in bourbon barrels and a 1st Fill Re-Charred Barrique. This whisky provides a barrage of dry smoke hot and peppery but at the same time with the sweetness of honey glaze and fresh yellow fruit.	Distilled in 2010, this expression was matured for nine years in a red wine barrique. 263 bottles produced at cask strength free from chill filtration and artificial colouring.
My thoughts:
Appearance	A lovely range of shades!
	Pale gold in the glass, swirls cling as a thin line have forever to bead up and fall as slow thick legs.	Light gold in the glass, swirls cling as a thin line, bead up and fall as slow thin legs.	Mid gold in the glass, swirls cling as thick line, bead up and fall as slow thin oily legs.	Dark gold in the glass, swirls cling as a thick line, takes ages to bead up and fall as slow thick legs.	Bronze in the glass, swirls cling as a thick line, takes ages to bead up and fall as slow thick legs.
Nose	Gentle peat smoke and  maritime spray combines with lemon meringue pie and a hint of mint. A little time and air offers some porridge notes and a little sweet honey.	A little older and a little stronger than the Hepburn and it shows. The peat is more pronounced, the maritime influence has waned a little and the citrus notes have increased, lemon bonbons and lemon zest. Again a little time and air offers some porridge notes with a little sweet honey.	This one sits somewhere in between the first two, it claims to be sherry cask matured but there's very little sherry influence - maybe the young age? The peat smoke and maritime spray notes are here, the citrus seems to have disappeared replaced by a meaty note.	The SMWS is a little different from the previous three, the smoke and salt is still here but there is a prominent fruit note - plums, cherries and strawberries. A little time and air offers toffee and balsamic vinegar.	Similar to the SMWS but with the fruit notes turned up to 11. Full term maturation in red wine rather than a 2 year finish have nearly overpowered the Caol Ila smoke and salt DNA - it's still there but a little more difficult to find.
Palate	A little thin but full of flavour - it starts with sweet honey and is then taken over by a huge ginger spice note. There's an ever present peat smoke and dried seaweed note. A few more sips gets you past the spice and the lemon notes from the nose appear. Nice!	A little thicker and sweeter, hardly any spice here but again lots of ashy peat smoke and dried seaweed. Once again there is a lot of citrus zest notes - orange rather than lemon? adding a tingle to the tongue. A few more sips offer stewed orchard fruit and custard - apples, pears and vanilla. This one hides it's ABV very well.	Smooth and thin but immediately fruity - where was this on the nose? Strawberry jam and dried fruit along with a lovely peppery spice. The Caol Ila DNA smoke and salt are still here - coming through in spade fulls as the liquid disappears. A few more sips offer salted caramel and chocolate.	Thick syrupy arrival, sweet berries and orchard fruit blanketed in a wave of peat smoke and maritime salt. There's dried fruit - you'd normally associate with sherry alongside black plums, dark cherries and blackberries. There's a little peppery spice and a hint of sour citrus as the liquid disappears. Again this one hides it's ABV well.	Another thick sweet arrival, a little more spice this time, loads of dark fruit  and that blanked of peat smoke and maritime salt. The most complex of the five - dried fruit, berries, cherries, plums and blackberries give huge fruit notes, there's a little citrus and toffee but the smoke and salt are ever present - Yummy!
Finish	Lingering ashy smoke with lemon juice.	Lingering ashy smoke with lemon juice and orchard fruit	Again the smoke, a little salted caramel chocolate.	Lingering fruit, smoke and spice.	Lingering smoke, salt and red berries.
Overall	For me it's all about extremes - the Hepburn is very close to 'standard' Caol Ila 12yo - peat smoke, maritime breeze, lemon zest and spice - Caol Ila's DNA. It's a little stronger and more importantly non chill filtered so although I thought it a little thin it's full of flavour.  The Single Cask bumps up the ABV, the citrus and the sweetness at the expense of the spice. It's a little older and offers some orchard fruit and vanilla notes not usually found in Caol Ila. Lovely as a cask strength sipper. The Càrn Mòr was a little strange - a little subdued on the nose but heavily sherry influenced on the palate The DNA smoke and salt are still here. Then things start to change - the wine cask finish of the SMWS keeps the smoke and salt but the citrus all but disappears - replaced by the wine influenced red fruit. Nice but if you like that kind of thing you probably want the full effect that the Whisky Broker cask gives you. For me I enjoyed them all but it's either 'plain' Caol Ila in the Hepburn or full on fruit in the Whisky Broker.