Firkin Islay: Caol Ila 2010 whisky in custom marsala cask
This is the story of two islands Islay & Sicily and how they produced an award-winning whisky.
Firkin Islay combines the peaty smokiness of Caol Isla 2008 with the Muscat grape sweetness of Marsala. The flavours fuse together in our custom cask.
Our unique process mellows and softens the peat. Firkin Islay is a new take on a classic Islay whisky!
Salty peat & smoke with a touch of sweetness.
Bellissima!
Firkin Islay Coal Isla won a gold medal in the Whiskies of the World awards in the peated whiskies category. But that doesn’t come as a massive surprise.
History of Caol Isla Distillery
The island of Islay lies off the west coast of Scotland and is the home of big, smoky, peaty whiskies. The Caol Isla distillery (pronounced Cull-Eela) is on the northeast tip of the island.
The distillery has majestic sea views and a stunning location. Caol Isla translates as the ‘Sound of Islay’ in Gaelic.
Hector Henderson founded Caol Isla in 1846 and it didn’t get off to a great start. Henderson sold it to Buchanans, the Whisky brokers in Glasgow, after only eight years.
But then Coal Isla thrived. The blending houses, who pioneered the global success of Scotch, needed peated whisky. Coal Isla was exactly what they needed.
In 1871 the census revealed the closeness of families on the island. Douglas Johnstone was the distiller at Caol Isla, his uncle was at Lagavulin, and his cousin was at Laphroaig.
Christmas Day must have been glorious for the Johnstone family.
The whisky at Caol Isla is famous for its lighter peat style, some floral notes and a touch of pepper. So how come it’s a more delicate style when it has a very similar malt bill to its cousin at Lagavulin? If you’ve not had Lagavulin (where have you been?!) it’s like licking the inside of a BBQ. Delicious!
The key to Caol Isla’s lighter style are the stills. They are filled to around 33% of capacity. Under-filling the stills allows more reflux and which produces a delicate peat style.
Why Marsala? Is it a type of salad?
We chose marsala because it shares some of the depth of Caol Isla. It’s a complex wine with notes of stewed apricot, Vanilla, Tamarind and soft brown sugar.
The taste profile comes from a maturation system like the solera system from Spain. The wine is transferred from cask to cask as it ages, intensifying the flavour and complexity. The wine ages and develops a unique sweet flavour, that’s also a bit spicy.
Our casks use American first-fill bourbon and new French Limousin oak staves. After we combine the staves, we burn the inside to make custom char. Our double oak cask creates an exceptional flavour profile with Marsala wine.
Tasting Notes
Kapow! Smoke! Call the Fire Brigade! A waft of peat & smoke.
You only need to dig a bit for the malt and creamy oak which holds it together. This whisky has everything: big burning embers, smoky bonfire and a tad of mellowed sweetish oak. It's a peppery and lively spirit.
So chewy, so smoky, so Firkin Islay.