When Billy Stitchell stepped down as distillery manager of Caol Ila in 2013 he closed a quietly remarkable family chapter: four generations of Stitchells had worked at the distillery since the 19th century, and Billy himself had run the place for almost thirty years. Diageo marked his retirement by releasing the Stitchell Reserve as part of that year's Special Releases lineup — the first and only Caol Ila bottling to carry his name.
What makes it unusual, even within the Special Releases canon, is its construction. The Stitchell Reserve is a marriage of both peated and unpeated Caol Ila spirit, drawn from refill American oak and refill European oak casks, and bottled without an age statement at a natural cask strength of 59.6% ABV. The blend was put together in tribute to Stitchell's stewardship of both styles of distillation at the plant.
The nose hints at the dual character almost immediately — there's smoke, but it sits alongside a clean, lemony, herbal note that you would never find in a straight peated Caol Ila of similar age. The palate is bright, oily, and unusually layered, with the unpeated spirit lending crispness while the peated component supplies the maritime backbone. Water releases more vanilla and a soft chalky minerality.
It's not a flashy whisky and it isn't trying to be. The Stitchell Reserve is a thoughtful, well-built tribute dram — a snapshot of a distillery in two voices, bottled in honour of a man who knew both better than anyone. As a piece of Islay history in liquid form it is hard to fault.
