Menu
Barley_to_Bottle

Malting

April 11, 2018

Kilchoman is one of only a few distilleries still practicing traditional floor malting, a process that many of Scotland’s distilleries have outsourced with the arrival of commercial distilling.  The process involves soaking the barley in water before it is laid on a concrete floor and regularly turned by hand.  This triggers the barley to germinate, allowing for the conversion of starch to fermentable sugars and alcohol.  The labour intensive nature of floor malting is a significant factor in its demise, though it remains at the heart of our 100% Islay philosophy.

 

READ NEXT

Kilchoman Timeline

2001 After a 20-year career in the drinks industry, initially in wine and latterly as an independent bottler of whisky, Anthony Wills has the idea of building a new Islay distillery. Kilchoman Distillery Company Ltd is incorporated as a private limited company on November 12th, 2001. 2003 The idea of…

February 6, 2026
READ FULL POST