Tasting Note
Tasting Note
by Jim Murray
as written in his Whisky Bible 2008
Kilchoman New Spirit 63.5% Bourbon Cask Distilled 6 December 2006 bottled 22 January 2007. Nose, curiously attractive as there is as much coal smoke on the nose as there is peat. Quite a homely and attractive combination, nutty, a touch herbal and reminiscent of some of the early work carried out at Makmyra in Sweden. Taste, sweet, as peated new make has a tendency to be, but wonderfully weighted with exceptional oil to barley ratio. Finish, long and continues the same excellent course, drying laterally but with the soft peats continuing to delve in and out of the tastebuds. Balance, not whisky at all, but new make that has, I understand, spent a few weeks in wood and is for sale at the distillery. And there is no doubting: this is quite beautifully – and technically, faultlessly – made spirit, far better than the owner could possibly have hoped for, and which, if this is an average sample of this new Islay make, bodes exceptionally well for the future
Kilchoman New Spirit scored 94 out of 100 points
The accolade of best malt went to Ardbeg 10 year old with 97 points
Scoring Chart
0-50 Nothing short of absolutely diabolical
51-64 Nasty and well worth avoiding
65-69 Very unimpressive indeed
70-79 Average and usually pleasant though sometimes flawed
80-84 Good whisky worth trying
85-89 Very good to excellent whiskies definitely worth buying
90-93 Brilliant
94-97 Superstar whiskies that give us all a reason to live
98-100 Better than anything I’ve tasted!
