This is a fun one. And a bottle I really didn't expect to own. Then I found a terrific price and pounced, thanks Total Wine Minnetonka!. It's called the Kilchoman 100% Islay and is an annual release. The first was 2011 and this is the ninth edition, so it was bottled in 2019.
Kilchoman is a tiny farm distillery on the island of Islay off the west coast of Scotland. To reiterate, Islay is considered its own Scotch whisky region and contains other distilleries such as Bruichladdich, Laphroaig and Ardbeg. My wife and I traveled there twice, in 2016 and 2017, and visited Kilchoman the second time. We were told Kilchoman is the second smallest distillery in all Scotland, bigger only than Edradour in the Highlands, and I can't imagine that's changed. The name Kilchoman comes from the location of the distillery, as is often the case with Scotch. Pronunciation guides say it's 'kil-ho-man' but it should be 'kil-ho-min.' I also really thought I remembered the distillery employees hitting the c, but I could be wrong.
Opened in 2005, Kilchoman was the newest distillery on that wonderful little island until Ardnahoe in 2018. In fact, it was the first new distillery built there in well over 100 years. What makes them special, and memorable in my case, is a few things. The distillery and fairly large farm (2000 acres) that surrounds it work in conjunction. They're the only independently owned distillery on the island and are still operated by the family that opened it. They even do every step of the whisky making process on site. There aren't many distilleries that grow barley themselves, and there aren't many doing hand-turned floor malting anymore either. Kilchoman does both. Not every bottle they release utilizes these extremely localized methods (such as the core-range Machir Bay and Sanaig) but one in particular is truly 'barley to bottle.' That's the 100% Islay single farm single malt. During our tasting tour my wife and I agreed it was their best tasting expression, so this isn't a gimmick.
This means, for the bottle I'm going to sample, the workers at Kilchoman: harvested barley themselves, which was traditionally floor malted and dried with locally sourced peat, mashed to create wort, and slowly fermented and distilled through their small copper stills. The distillate was then barreled and stored before finally being bottled and even hand-labeled. And this all happened on site. It's a marvel. From the official page of the 9th Edition:
'With barley origins, varieties and farm distillers one of the industry’s hot topics, our 100% Islay range remains Scotland’s only Single Farm Single Malt. Whilst many distillers might make whisky from barley grown on their land, in these instances the malting, maturation or bottling is done elsewhere. Our 100% Islay malts can trace their origins back to the barley variety, field and farmer who planted it.'
From what I've read, the maltings they do on-site are peated to 20 ppm, a relatively low number. The malt they get elsewhere (Port Ellen, also on Islay) is 50 ppm. This means the 100% Islay is less peated than their standard offerings as well as Laphroaig, Ardbeg, and most others from Islay.
(Pop!)
Stats:
ABV - 50% (100 proof)
Mash - 100% malted barley
Maturation - ex-Bourbon barrels
Age - 9+ years
Region - Islay
Price - ~$100, referencing current 10th edition (I found mine for $75)
Tasting Notes:
Smell - Fresh, light peat, citrus and something else, pine?
Color - Very light amber, almost a pale yellow
Taste - Delicate mix, more citrus, vanilla, peat smoke, sea brine?
Finish - Thick and oily feel, good length, complex flavors all stick around
Final Thoughts:
That's a fantastic whisky. The story, sourcing and methods behind the bottle are uniquely cool, but some expert craftsmanship is the best part of it, resulting in something absolutely enjoyable. It's not overly peaty, nor overwhelming in any particular way, and yet very flavorful and balanced. If you're looking for something about $100 and peaty, though not overly so, I certainly recommend it. Yes yes, I know that's pretty specific.
I'm just glad I found one and can have it around for a while.
Cheers!
Comments