Sold outDec 2025In short · Caol Ila (Islay), 13 years.
“The Panel awoke on an old Scottish island ferry, with coal soot cascading over salted raisin purée, toffee sauce and lapsang souchong tea.…”Extract · full tasting notes at SMWS
SMWS 53.514 is a single cask of Caol Ila, in the Islay region, 13 years old, bottled at 58.4%, released in the Dec 2025 Outturn. Every Society bottle numbered 53.x is from Caol Ila.
Specs, price and tasting-note extract from the SMWS. Full notes on smws.com.
Hidden in a cove above Port Askaig, gazing across the churning Sound of Islay to the Paps of Jura, Caol Ila (1846) is the island's largest distillery and the quiet engine-room of Johnnie Walker. On its own, though, it is a beauty: oily and cool, olive brine and lemon and a soft grey smoke. Diageo's.