Thomas Ewer’s passion for single malt Scotch whisky, his personal contacts at the distilleries and the joy of discovering new whiskies were the driving forces behind the creation of Malts of Scotland. After years of searching for the best and rarest casks to select and buy, it was decided in 2009 to bottle the first release of 11 special single cask Scotch whiskies under the name of Malts of Scotland. The motto of Malts of Scotland is special bottlings for special moments. All the details are significant: from the careful selection of the casks to the design and appearance of the packaging and the company. In the warehouses of Malts of Scotland there are about 400 barrels of whisky aging from more than 60 Scottish distilleries. This wide range ensures that we will certainly be spoiled with more special bottlings in the future. The whiskies of Malts of Scotland are not colored, are un-chillfiltered and most are bottled at cask strength. What you get is the purest taste of uisge beatha.
In 1846 Hector Henderson built the Caol Ila distillery near Port Askaig on the island of Islay. In 1854 he sold it to Norman Buchanan. Today, Coal Ila (which is Gaelic for ‘Sound of Islay’, the dangerous crossing between Islay and Jura) is the largest distillery on the island with a mash tun of 13 tonnes, 8 washbacks and 6 stills. In 1863, she became the property of Bulloch Lade & Co, whisky merchants from Glasgow. They went bankrupt in 1920. In 1927 Caol Ila was reopened by the Coal Ila Distillery Company Ltd, that would later become part of DCL, a precursor to Diageo. The distillery was closed again from 1930 to 1937 and again during the Second World War. Since 1974, the malt is purchased from the Port Ellen Maltings. They produce about 3.8 million litres of spirit per annum. It would take until 2002 before the first bottle of Caol Ila single malt was released. Before that, all production went into blend, primarily Johnnie Walker.
Caol Ila 1979/2012 (52.3%, Malts of Scotland, Bourbon Hogshead #MoS12022, 280 Bts.)