Scotland, Isle of Islay. Distillery operational. Owner: Diageo

Fully modernized between 1972 and 1974, Caol Ila escaped the wave of closures sweeping through the Scotch whisky industry in the early 1980s. A key component in numerous blends, including Johnnie Walker, Bulloch Lade and Black Bottle, Caol Ila remained for a long time overshadowed by its illustrious sister Lagavulin. Up until the late 1980s, its malt was available in 12 and 15 year old versions bottled by Bulloch Lade & Co. In the early 1990s, United Distilleries launched two ranges showcasing all of its distilleries, The Rare Malts Selection and Flora & Fauna. Four versions of Caol Ila would be bottled first (vintage and cask strength limited editions), followed by a 43% 14 year old. Note that a 1983 cask strength in the very short-lived Fauna & Flora Cask Strength range and, more importantly, a classic 15 year old sherry cask - The Manager's Dram - were also released. In order to relieve Lagavulin of the pressure on its stocks in the early 2000s, Caol Ila was officially released on the market in 2002 in the Hidden Malt range, alongside three versions of its malt, a no-age-statement cask strength (55%), a 12 year old, and an 18 year old, followed by a 1978 25 year old in 2004.

An Islay single malt distilled at the Caol Ila distillery on 16 May 1984, matured in a hogshead and bottled on 9 April 2010. This whisky is effectively 25 years old. Bottled for the Cask Strength Collection range from renowned independent bottler Signatory Vintage, this single cask #3637 is a limited edition of 179 bottles worldwide. Numbered bottle equipped with a cork stopper and transparent foil seal.

Cask Strength Collection was the first range launched in 1988 when Signatory Vintage was established. It opened with Glenlivet 1968 (a blend of two casks, 5868 and 5877), bottled in April 1989. This first wave is known to collectors as the “Vintage Collection - Dumpy”, which saw top distilleries and vintages bottled as simply as possible, at cask strength, without the addition of caramel and without chill-filtration, from Laphroaig 1966 to Ardbeg 1967, Glenfarclas 1959 and Macallan 1949. The bottle has since changed, but the spirit remains the same.