Caol Ila Flora & Fauna 15 Year Old Single Malt Scotch Whisky (700ml)

One story (and there are a few) tells that the Diageo Flora and Fauna releases were born from a rather embarrassing situation. Increased awareness of the breadth of Scottish single malts (largely via the offerings of the independent bottlers) resulted in a surge of distillery tourism in the early to mid-nineties. Devotees - particularly of the more obscure malts - would travel to their favourite distillery, enjoy the warmth and hospitality on offer, get an education and at the end of the tour find the staff had nothing to offer in the way of a dram.

So the Flora and Fauna series of limited bottlings was gradually introduced to showcase the arts of the lesser known distilleries, those that had been bulldozed, mothballed or otherwise accessed by blenders only.

Flora and Fauna was not originally an official title, but a name coined by Michael Jackson, as every distillery bottling had its own animal or plant assigned to each respective label. The first tranche was released between 1991 and 1994, followed by a smattering of cask strength releases (discontinued and ultra rare) up until 1998 and four expressions in September 2001.

Initially the series was available only at the malt's distillery of origin. Gradually the collection made its way out of the distilleries and onto the shelves of top Whisky purveyors.

This, the first release Caol Ila Flora & Fauna 15 Year Old bottling was discontinued in June 2002. It was superseded by a range of distillery bottlings. 43% Alc./Vol. No tasting notes available.