Origin: Isle of Islay (Scotland)
Type: Single Malt Scotch Whisky
Strength: 56.9%ABV
Ageing casks: Quarter casks
Chillfiltered: No
Additional coloring: No
Owner: Kilchoman
Average price: € 109.00
Official website: kilchomandistillery.com
At first glance, Kilchoman’s whiskies are among the most reviewed on these pages. Probably also because of the plethora of special editions that seem to be a prerogative of the Islay farm distillery.
Today, for the sake of completeness, but above all for the love of Kilchoman, we add to the list a release from eight years ago. A 12,000-batch production of a whisky distilled in 2010 and matured in quarter casks (smaller than the usual hogsheads, holding between 110 and 130 litres each) before being bottled at cask strength in September 2016.
Tasting Notes
The colour is a bright gold.
On the nose, the first impression is, as you might expect, of acrid smoke, with a discreet sprinkling of black pepper and a hint of damp earth and burnt sage (it happens sometimes, we are bad cooks). Two very specific notes: one of freshly cut wood, the other of red lettuce. We perceive a delicate lemon cream in the background, before an ensemble of kitchen herbs, in which thyme and rosemary stand out, captures our attention. As the minutes pass, the sweet side returns, framing vanilla and custard in the foreground.
On the palate, driven by the smoke, the black pepper overflows before a creamy sweetness of apricot, peach and pudding cream takes over. A memory of yellow orange pairs with one of nougat, just ahead of memories of bread crust, opening the door to a medium-long finish, less aggressive and less smoky than expected, in which the nougat and a hint of orange cream remain.
The quarter casks act as an aromatic amplifier, and Kilchoman’s whisky can express itself in all its muscular efficiency, in a non-trivial and in some ways didactic dram, even in its use of the cask strength.
Vote: 86/100