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Day 5 - KWM 2024 This Is Not An Advent Calendar - Kilchoman 100% Islay 10 Year KWM Cask

Posted on December 5, 2024

Day 5 — Kilchoman 100% Islay 10 Year KWM Cask for ScotchGuy's 20th Anniversary bottling

By Evan

We are going from Scotland’s current youngest operating distillery on Day Four to the Island’s second-youngest distillery for Day five. Today we are showcasing the latest Kilchoman KWM Cask. This one was bottled to celebrate Andrew Ferguson’s 20th year at Kensington Wine Market. This is the Kilchoman 100% Islay 10 Year ScotchGuy's 20th Anniversary bottling.

Wow, that long bottle name just rolls off the tongue, doesn’t it? But what does it all mean? We will get into that shortly. First off, let's talk about Kilchoman Distillery itself.

Kilchoman was opened in 2005 by Anthony Wills. It was the first new distillery to open on Islay in 124 years. The Distillery resides on Rockside Farm, though Anthony and his distiller company did not own the farm from the outset. The farm and its land surrounding the distillery was purchased later, in 2015. Thanks to that, the distillery sits on land that is capable of growing up to 230 acres of barley; some of which is used for the Kilchoman 100% Islay series, which is made from barley grown on Islay that is also malted at the distillery’s own floor malting building.

Speaking of malt, that is possibly the largest choke point Kilchoman has had to deal with over the past few years. Like many Islay distilleries, Kiclhoman relied on the Port Ellen maltings for most of its requirements outside its smaller producing 100% Islay range. Sadly, that steady and nearby source for peated malt was cut off near the end of 2022 by Diageo; the owners of Port Ellen. The only commercial maltings currently on Islay now only provides malt for Diageo owned distilleries. That means every distillery on Islay outside of Caol Ila, Lagavulin and the newly rebuilt Port Ellen itself has to source whatever they don’t malt onsite themselves from the Scottish mainland.

Kilchoman’s need for malted barley has grown considerably over the past decade. The distillery expanded from two to four stills in 2019, and is currently adding a third pair of stills, which will come online in 2025.

As I mentioned earlier, the bottling of Kilchoman we will sample today uses malt from their 100% Islay range. It is the 9th or so Kilchoman cask we have selected for Kensington Wine Market. Or 8th or 10th. Counting is hard. What I can say with certainty is that the whisky is 10 years old and was matured in an ex-Bourbon Barrel.

Shall we?

Kilchoman 100% Islay 10 Year KWM Cask for ScotchGuy's 20th Anniversary – 55.5%

Evan’s Tasting Note

Nose: Did somebody pour some olive brine in my apple juice? Plenty of apple and pear notes mingling with salty coastal notes. Apple Jacks cereal (milk and all), buttery lobster tail, roasted potato with sour cream, a few pencil shavings, and a dryer sheet tossed in just for fun.

Palate: Surprisingly sweet and creamy, with plenty of salt and brine along for the ride. Chalky assorted fruit Pez candies, lemon custard tarts, strawberry wafers, linguine with clam sauce, and a few strips of roasted seaweed snacks.

Finish: Creamy and salty oatmeal with a touch of apple cider floating along softly in its wake.

Comment: This is the second 10-Year-Old 100% Islay Kilchoman matured in ex-Bourbon that we have been lucky enough to have bottled for KWM. It is a gentle giant full of sweet and creamy notes that you cannot help but love.

Andrew's Tasting Note

Nose: decadent, fruity, and malt with maritime smoke; buttercream icing sugar, Junior Mints, and warm French pastries; lemon, lime, honeydew melon, and poached pear; chewy malt and salty beach bonfire smoke.

Palate: decadent, smoky, and salty with loads of fruit; bags of honey, more buttercream icing, and Junior Mints; salted caramel chocolates with chunks of almond; candied citrus fruits, more honeydew melon, and poached pear with Roquefort and quince paste; a touch of Mezcal, ashy malt, and clean oily smoke.

Finish: lush, fruity, and smoky with fading fruits; more ashy maritime smoke, chocolate and salted caramel with fading sweet citrus.

Comment: quite simply wow... it is such a privilege to have been given the opportunity to bottle this cask; big thank you to Anthony and his team for the more than 15 years we've been working together now! 

It has been a peaty journey so far in the first 20% of our 2024 KWM This is Not an Advent Calendar tasting series. We will have to rectify that tomorrow. See on Day Six!

Cheers,
Evan

Playing catch-up on our 2024 This Is Not An Advent Calendar?

You can find the rest of the blog posts here!

This entry was posted in Whisky, Tastings, Whisky Calendars, Distillery, Tastings - Online Tasting, KWM Single Cask, KWM 2024 Not An Advent Calendar Tastings

 

 

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