Caol Ila :: 2008/09/22 17:00
From www.thewhiskyguide.com
Caol Ila Distillery
Caol Ila is pronounced cull eela and is Gaelic for the “Sound of Islay”. The distillery was founded in 1846 by Hector Henderson and is beautifully situated overlooking the sound between Islay and Jura. In spite of many changes in ownership, the distillery has been in production almost constantly since it was founded with the exception of 1930 and 1937 as well as a period during WW2.
In order to meet an increased demand from the blended industry, the distillery was completely remodelled between 1972 and 1974. All buildings were torn down and rebuilt except for the warehouses which were spared. The modernization also meant that Caol Ila started to buy their malt from the centralised maltings at Port Ellen.
In the mid 1980s the distillery introduced a new product for the blended industry –the completely unpeated Caol Ila Highland. Until a few years ago Caol Ila only had one official bottling, but they have expanded their product range and now offer bottlings of for example Caol Ila 12 years, 18 years and a Cask Strength bottling.
Short Fact: The largest distillery on Islay. Part of the ‘Hidden Malts Series’.
Character: Caol Ila have many bottlings with differences in their character, but in general a Caol Ila whisky is smoky, medicinal, peaty and slightly fruity.
Production at Caol Ila
The water is taken from the Loch nam Ban, which is very rich in lime. Port Ellen Maltings supplies the malt, which is smoked to approximately 30-40 ppm.
Caol Ila have six very large onion shaped stills, all steam-heated. The wash stills each hold 18 000 litres, and the spirit stills hold 14 000 litres. The mash tun is made from stainless steel and requires 11 tons for each mashing. They have eight wooden washbacks, each with a capacity of 30 000 litres. The single malt whisky casks are stored in the old warehouses on site as opposed to the whisky intended for the blended industry which is shipped to the mainland for storage. The bottling is done in Glasgow.
With their annual output of 3.8 million litres, Caol Ila are the largest distillery on Islay.
요즘 출장갔다가 면세점 가면 싱글몰트만 주로 들여다보게 되는데
멤버들과 한병 딸 요량으로 하나 집어왔다.
전시된 12년산 중 다소 거만해 보이는 가격대와, 어찌 읽어야 할지 모를 디스틸러 이름이
어딘가 모르게 저거 한병 집어가야겠다 라는 생각을 유발하더라는.
주로 유명한 싱글몰트 디스틸러가 하이랜드 쪽이라면, 아일래이 쪽은 어딘가 매니악 한 느낌이랄까 그렇다는데, 잘은 모르겠으나 스카치 다른 지역에 비해 향이 좀 강할라나 모르겠다. 스카치가 도수도 높고 향도 생각보다 강해서 다소 부담스러울지 모르겠지만, 사람들 와인에 빠지듯 빠지다 보면 정신 못차릴 듯 (국내에서 종류별로 구하기도 어렵고 가격도 만만찮아서 문제지)
멤버들 모이는 대로 금년 내에 개봉 예정
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