Caol Ila Distillery - Tour Times (by appointment only)

March to October
Monday to Friday - 09:30, 10:45, 13:45 and 15:00

November 2008 to March 2009
Restricted tours available. Adult admission charge including discount voucher, redeemable in the distillery shop towards a 70cl bottle of single malt whisky. Children under eight years not admitted to the production areas.

Current owner: Diageo
Distillery Manager: Billy Stitchell
flora.macaffer@diageo.com
+ 44 (0) 1496 302760
+ 44 (0) 1496 302763

Caol Ila History and Distillery Information

Caol Ila (Gaelic for “Sound of Islay” and pronounced col eela) was founded in 1846 by Hector Henderson. The distillery did not fare well, and changed hands in 1854 when Norman Buchanan, owner of the Isle of Jura Distillery, took over.

In 1863 the business was acquired by Bulloch Lade & Co, of Glasgow, traders in whisky stocks. By the 1880s over 147,000 gallons of whisky were produced there each year.

In 1920 Bulloch Lade went into voluntary liquidation, and a consortium of businessmen formed the Caol Ila Distillery Company Ltd. In 1927 the Distillers Company Limited acquired a controlling interest in Caol Ila, and in 1930 Scottish Malt Distillers Ltd obtained ownership of all the shares. The company eventually became part of Diageo.

The distillery closed during World War II, from 1941–1945, because of wartime restrictions on the supply of barley to distillers. From then, production continued until 1972, when the entire structure of the distillery was demolished. A larger distillery was built in the same original architectural style, and production resumed in 1974.

Related info: Alfred Barnard's visit to Caol Ila Distillery in the 1880s

Bottlings
Here are the most important bottlings of Caol Ila: