Caol Ila 2014/2025 - 11 y.o. - Mystical Malt Creatures - 1st Fill Chateau Latour Cask - Murray McDavid

Volume: 0.7 litres | Alcohol content: 56.3% | Chill filtration: No | Colouring: No

Special Features:

This Caol Ila was distilled on 19 May 2014 and bottled by Murray McDavid in 2025 at eleven years of age. The single-cask bottling belongs to the «Mystical Malt Creatures» series. The whisky was finished in first-fill Château Latour barrique number 2003916. The release comprises 290 bottles of 0.7 litres each and was bottled at 56.3%, with natural colour and without chill filtration.

Blackcurrant, dark berries and plum sit alongside tobacco and cedarwood. Salty peat smoke holds the fruit together, while leather, oak and dry spices lead into a long, maritime and smoky finish.

Tasting Notes:

• Nose: The nose is intensely peaty, salty and maritime. Red fruit and a light vanilla sweetness provide a softer accent.
• Palate: An oily texture carries dark forest berries and ripe cherries. Powerful campfire-like ash notes are joined by cold smoke, spicy oak and a touch of dark chocolate.
• Finish: The finish is long and dry. Maritime impressions, black pepper and the lingering sweetness of caramelised red fruit remain.

Distillery/Bottler:

Caol Ila has been based on Islay since 1846 and stands in the island’s northeast, on the Sound of Islay opposite Jura. During the reconstruction in the early 1970s, its six stills were modelled on their predecessors to preserve the distillery’s characteristic profile. The barley is malted at Port Ellen, while spring water from the limestone near Loch nam Ban is used in production.

Murray McDavid was established in 1994 through a collaboration between wine merchants Mark Reynier and Simon Coughlin and Springbank’s Gordon Wright. The independent bottler makes the purposeful use of different casks central to its «Art of Maturation». Around 70,000 casks are stored at its Speyside sites at Coleburn Distillery, Royal Brackla Distillery and Kinloss. For this Caol Ila, Murray McDavid complemented the distillery’s maritime, peaty character with a finish in a Château Latour red-wine barrique.

Facts: