Kilchoman Summer 2010 3-Year
In the small (yet growing) group of small Scottish distilleries, Kilchoman is perhaps the tiniest. But what else would you expect from a distillery that is only 6 years old, is located on the small island of Islay off Scotland’s southwest coast, and was built on a farm (Rockside Farm)?
I still remember learning about Kilchoman back in 2004, before the distillery had even begun to produce its own whisky. Kilchoman, founded in 2001 by Anthony Wills, was the first new distillery on Islay in 124 years, and they didn’t begin distilling until 2005, after several years of acquiring and installing equipment and hiring staff.
At the time, I was heavily into Islay whiskies, the smokier the better, and so after having fully explored all 7 of them at the time (Bowmore, Bruichladdich, Bunnahabhain, Laphroaig, Caol Ila, and Lagavulin), the thought of one more Islay distillery was really exciting. Unfortunately, their whisky was many, many years away, and so was really nothing more than a figment of our (and Anthony Wills’) imaginations.
In 2006, I did end up getting my hands on some of Kilchoman’s whisky, after they’d released a small batch of 50ml bottles of their new make spirit. What surprised me most was how smooth and very drinkable it was, while still being satisfyingly smoky.
Fast forward to 2009, and Kilchoman released their first Scotch whisky (as the younger whisky couldn’t properly be called Scotch because it was too young – whisky must be aged at least 3 years in oak barrels to be called Scotch), a 3-year old finished in Oloroso sherry butts. They followed this up with another 3-year old, released in (and accordingly named) Summer 2010. Their most recent release was the “100% Islay”, a whisky distilled from barley grown on Islay and malted at the distillery itself.
This last whisky is indicative of the unique path that Kilchoman is taking. They are not only small, they embrace being small. They strive to take advantage of some of the unusual opportunities available to them on account of their size, such as malting some of their own barley, and to capture Wills’ vision of “a small farm distillery that used only local ingredients, malted its own barley, and would benefit from the iconic Islay pedigree.”
Today, Kilchoman produces 100,000 liters a year, up from 40,000 in 2006. They produce a smoky whisky, with the malt measuring 20-25ppm phenols, accomplished by virtue of 12 hours of exposure to peat smoke before the malt is finished drying via indirect oil fire. The young whiskies are quite drinkable, which may have something to do with the shape of their stills. According to stillman Tony Rozga, “[the stills] are a great shape with lots of space to help the vapours calm down before they hit the condenser.”
What with all the good reviews that I’d read, and this being my first chance to taste aged Kilchoman whisky, I was pretty excited to try this dram.
Tasting Notes
This was a small sample graciously supplied to me by Drinks By The Dram*. It was bottled at 46%.
In the glass, the whisky is a pale, shimmery, white gold. The nose is beautifully smoky with lots of charred wood and smoke accompanied by notes of burnt sugar, peppermint, and white chocolate. The palate is rich and warm, earthy and very smoky, with sweet vanilla and brioche. On the finish, the bite of young whisky rears its head, but doesn’t overshadow the cloud of smoke that slowly gives way to a subdued sweetness.
On the whole, this is pretty smooth for such a young whisky, with flavors that are unabashedly smoky, and balanced by a nice combination of mint and chocolate. It very much makes me look forward to an older version of Kilchoman, and I wouldn’t argue against some of that Oloroso finishing they used for earlier releases.
*Drinks By The Dram is actually a pretty neat online whisky shop. I’d seen their site a year or so back and was impressed that they were offering single drams of whisky (e.g. 3cl bottles) for sale, in many cases whiskies that were rather rare. At the time, their selection was good, but today it’s pretty downright impressive. Lots of hard to find bottlings and lots only released in the UK are available by the single dram, which is especially beneficial for those of us here in the US. For a modest cost, we can sample whiskies otherwise unavailable to us. For instance, this and this. Exceptional whiskies both, extremely rare, and bottles prohibitively expensive. But a single dram’s worth is a great opportunity for a whisky lover. They’re definitely worth checking out.
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