Kilchoman Casado, Married in Portuguese Red Wine Vats / 46%/ 0.7l

“Casado”, Portuguese for “marriage”, is the latest offering (2022) from Kilchoman Distillery.

This limited edition was blended from 38 first-fill bourbon barrels, which were aged for six years and then poured into two monstrous 6,000-litre vats previously used by winemakers in Portugal. After a two-year marriage in the vats, the whisky was bottled at 46% abv and without chill filtration; the run was 12,900 bottles. Kilchoman Distillery is named after a small settlement on the western side of Islay. It began operations in 2005 and was the first distillery on Islay in 124 years.

Nose : ripe summer berries, dried apricots, marzipan, toffee, vanilla, salted caramel, a touch of allspice and peat smoke in the background.

Palate : peat smoke and sea breeze, salted caramel, cherries, smoked plums, lemon peel, raisins, black pepper and a pinch of ginger.

Finish : quite long, smoky, with notes of peat smoke, red berries, vanilla, toffee, black pepper and a hint of nutmeg.