Picture above shows fields at Rockside Farm growing barley for Kilchoman Distillery . Things have moved on considerably during the months of August and September with barley now safely harvested.

The weather during recent weeks has been changeable to say the least . We are happy to say that due to Kilchoman barley being grown on some of the best land on Islay and the fact that Rockside Farm owns its own combine harvester our barley was harvested in the best conditions.

A lot of farmers on Islay rely on hiring the specialist equipment at harvest time and so have to wait their turn often missing the best of the weather.

Reported yields have been very good by Islay standards and moisture content off the fields was averaging 16 - 17% . The barley is now being dried down to 13% by our contract drier and will be used for whisky - making starting January 2011.

The distillery is now settling into winter routine of steady production and we are happy to report that we are now working a shift system on Mondays and Tuesdays which allows us to process one more mash per week.

This means a little more Kilchoman to go around in the future , which must be good news.

Regards

John

Whisky Live Paris

Anthony and John recently attended the above event held in the Palais de Tokyo over the three days 25th,26th and 27th of September .

This was a hugely successful event attended by most of the major whisky companies and also drinks producers ranging through Rum ,Vodka , Champagne , Cognac and many more.

Saturday and Sunday were open to the public and were very well attended with Monday being open only to the professionals , in excess of 6000 people attended over the three days. 

Despite being one of the smaller whisky producers in attendance Kilchoman attracted a level of interest that suggests it continues to punch well above ite weight.

Next event on the list for Kilchoman is the Stockholm Beer and Whisky Festival which Anthony will attend this week-end . 

These are busy times for all connected with Kilchoman as the distillery has also stepped up to six mashes per week , this will help support the growing popularity of the brand in years to come.

Regards

John 

Barley malting on the floor at Kilchoman Distillery , a familiar sight for visitors to Islays smallest , most westerly , 100% Islay Whisky producing farm distillery .

This week however the rumour mill has been turning furiously on Islay  since Kilchoman was spotted on the intro film for the BBC report on the opening of Diageos new distillery at Roseisle. Was everything about to change ?

We have been inundated with calls from Kilchoman fans asking if we have been taken over by Diageo , the truth is we haven,t . 

While we are on the subject we should make it clear that  we have no plans to take over Diageo either , we very much enjoy our current working relationship with them and hope it continues for many years.

This is a great example of how quickly a slight rumour can become a big story on Islay however we should say that although we are ambitious this would be stretching it a little.

Summer Release Kilchoman is soon to hit the shelves in the US , this will be our first big step into that market so we are very pleased to hear of some good things being said about it across the pond.

To find out more go to http://thecasks.com/

Regards

John

Malt on the floor at Kilchoman , the early stages of Malt whisky production, want to see the finished product ? If you are in USA in November you can do just that.

Anthony Wills Managing Director of kilchoman Distillery will be signing bottles of Kilchoman at -

The Whisky Shop , 360 Sutter Street , San Francisco CA 94108 on 05/11/10 .

For further info log on to http://www.whiskyintelligence.com/