Kilchoman 100% Islay for the twelfth time
Kilchoman, one of the youngest distilleries on the island of Islay, has closely followed the farmer's tradition of whisky making since its inception. It became apparent fairly quickly that it was impossible to base production entirely on one's own crops, but the very idea of farmer's distillation was not completely abandoned.
Announced these days is the debut of a new twelfth edition of whisky produced entirely on Islay - from barley growing to bottling. Kilchoman 100% Islay is a beverage made entirely from barley harvested from the fields surrounding the distillery and malted in a traditional malt house at the distillery. Other stages of production, according to the legal definition of the term "single malt whisky," must also take place at the distillery. At Kilchoman, additionally, whisky maturation and bottling also takes place on the premises.
For the vast majority of whisky produced in Scotland, barley is not only imported from outside the region, but is also sometimes imported from abroad. Malting, too, is only done in a handful of Scottish whisky factories. In many cases, the finished distillate is transported to large warehousing centers located far from the distillery, and the bottling of the already aged whisky is also carried out elsewhere than the production itself. In this sense Kilchoman 100% Islay is an exceptional whisky, comparable only to literally a handful of other products of the Scottish distilling industry. Only Springbank and Bruichladdich boast a similar commitment to the place of production at each stage of whisky making.
Kilchoman 100% Islay 12th Edition is whisky bottled as a beverage at 50% vol., without cold filtration and without caramel coloring. It was compiled from distillates from the 2009, 2010 and 2011 vintages, matured in 29 bourbon barrels and 6 oloroso sherry butt casks. The youngest ingredient in this whisky was matured for 8 years. The barley malt used in the production of this limited edition whisky was smoked while drying to a level of 20 ppm.
The new whisky's bouquet offers notes of sweet pipe smoke, strawberries, candied lemon peel, orange blossom, delicate toffee and cloves. In its taste we can expect accents of dark chocolate, roasted walnuts, tobacco, caramel and peat smoke.
The aforementioned 35 whisky barrels were enough to fill 12,500 bottles of whisky, each of which costs £74 at retail.
Despite the modest age of the distillery itself - production began in 2005 - the whisky produced at Kilchoman has already managed to win an impressive number of admirers and acclaim from Scotch malt whisky enthusiasts in its smoky, peaty guise. The current offerings of the House of Whisky Online include no small selection of Kilchoman editions, including at least two earlier batches of Kilchoman 100% Islay. We invite you to visit.
[13.09.2022 / photo: Kilchoman]