Dear Kilchoman Distillery,

Some friends of mine visited Islay last summer, lucky people, and came across your establishment.  Being very good friends of mine, they had the sense to purchase one  of those little tasters of "spirit" that your are currently marketing, and presented it to me on the occasion of my 60th birthday in December.  Later that month, added bonus, I opened my Christmas present from them to find a Kilchoman t-shirt, to add to my faded and worn Bowmore fleece and Ardbeg t-shirt, bought during a visit to Islay several years ago.  They are indeed true friends.

I have long been a lover of Scottish whiskey, mainly because when I was a lad I found I did not have the physical capacity to consume 8 pints of Banks's bitter in a night with the rest of my mates from Walsall, so graduated via a brief foray with vodka and Lime, of all things, to a lasting love of the water of life.  While there is nothing at all wrong with a good blended whiskey, I soon discovered the malts, and sampled them whenever financial circumstances allowed.  Very soon it became clear that my palate preferred the western island malts to any of the poncy smooth Glenlivets and such, though some of those are very good.  Talisker was an early discovery, cemented by a visit to the Talisker Distillery in the early 80's, and the discovery, in a hotel in Portree, of a bottle of the old stuff that pre-dated the fire that temporarily put the place out of action.  While the subsequent Talisker product is still a favourite of mine, the old version was in a different league entirely.

Later, maybe in the early 90's, my wife and I visited Islay.  By then I was already in love with the Islay malts, having started on Laphroaig then discovered the even bigger Lagavulin (and indeed a worthy cheap alternative for everyday drinking in the form of White Horse, which is surely chock-full of Lagavulin), and then the more subtle but wondrous Bruichladdich and Bunahabhain - apologies for the spelling, I don't have a bottle handy to check it.  On that trip to Islay, a magical experience in itself regardless of the whiskey and one of my very favourite places on earth, I finally disovered Caol Isla and Ardbeg, not to mention an obsolete but lovely example of Port Ellen.  At this pont, on review, I think I am missing a distllery somewhere; I blame the influence of a drop of Islay Mist that appeared amongst my Christmas presents (and nothing wrong with that).......ah, yes, Bowmore, how could I forget?

So, getting to the point, I love the stuff, particularly the Islay stuff, though I have to say that my current fave rave is Superstition from your neighbours on Jura.

And so to the Kilchoman.  I started at the beginning with the 1-month-old.  Having read the label, I had the sense to sample a very small dramette, maybe a thrid of the bottle.  I have never in my life experienced anything similar, and it was wonderful.  Stupidly I finished the bottle in two more staggered tastings before trying the older versions - I really should have done a proper compariosn test.  When I eventually had a very small nip of the 1-year, a couple of weeks later, the difference was nevertheless fairly obvious, the product even more enjoyable, and this time I had the sense to follow it up with a sniff of the 2-year-old, which was distinctly.....well, more mature is the only way I can describe it; somehow the peaty flavour seems to have come out more after 2 years, and it is a much more rounded, smooth and subtle spirit.  I still have small quantities of both the 1-year and 2-year left, and will probably take a wee one when I have sent this email.   All in all, I cannot wait for the appearance of your first true single malt whiskey.  I have alerted all of my friends to the fact that it should appear in time for my 61st birthday in December 2009 and trust they will have the nouse to club together for a case of it for me.

Thank you so much for the samples, and the t-shirt, and I look forward with uncontrollable salivation to the launch of The Kilchoman Malt.  Please alert me as soon as it is available.

Thanks and best wishes,

Neil Roberts