The Caol Ila single malt brand was revived in 2002 however, with the re-introduction of a 12 year old distillery bottling, alongside this 18 year old and a cask strength release. Caol Ila 18 is discontinued officially and becoming a rare whisky.

Caol Ila distillery was built in 1846 by Hector Henderson, who was bought out from the venture a little over 10 year later by Bulloch Lade. The blending firm merged with DCL (now Diageo) in 1927, who still run the distillery today. In 1972 the original site was demolished and replaced by a new one. When distilling resumed in 1974, Caol Ila was the largest producer of single malt on the Isle of Islay. Despite this, due to its importance in popular blends such as Johnnie Walker, its single malt brand disappeared under United Distillers, who opted to bottle a 15 year old under the Flora & Fauna banner instead, and it was not until 2002 that it would return, when the 12 year old was revived by Diageo.