We are delighted to announce the first ever Sauternes Cask Matured Kilchoman. The Limited Edition release of just 6,000 bottles will be available from Kilchoman stockists worldwide this week. The exclusive bottling has been matured for over five years in Sauternes casks.
The Sauternes Cask Matured follows Port and Madeira cask matured expressions released in recent years and continues our commitment to small batch ‘full term maturation’ rather than the more common practice of finishing whisky in such casks for a short period prior to bottling.
Anthony Wills, Kilchoman founder and Managing Director; “Although only making up a small part of our range, full term wine cask maturation in Port, Madeira and now Sauternes has produced fantastic results. The combination of peat smoke, fragrant Kilchoman spirit and full maturation in fresh Sauternes casks makes for a truly unique single malt.”
Robin Bignall, Kilchoman Production Manager; “Having spent its full maturation period in fresh Sauternes casks the whisky has inevitably taken on the textured white age influence associated with Sauternes casks however it remains balanced with an intriguing mix of maritime peat smoke, sweetness and citrus vibrancy.”
A limited number of bottles will be available here on the Kilchoman website from 10am this Wednesday (the 7th) priced at £73.50 (70cl, 50% ABV).
Having surprised many by being awarded Best Islay Single Malt at the 2016 International Whisky Competition, Kilchoman have since been awarded Best Single Malt Scotch Whisky (no age statement) at the prestigious International Wine and Spirits Competition (IWSC).
NAS (Non Age Statement) whiskies now form the largest segment in Single Malt with almost 80% of Scotch Whisky sold not having an age statement, making Kilchoman’s success all the more impressive.
Anthony Wills, Kilchoman Founder and Managing Director ‘We are thrilled that Sanaig has been named the best Single Malt Scotch Whisky – No Age Statement in this year’s IWSC. The IWSC is the most prestigious awards in the industry and is reward for the dedication and hard work of Robin Bignal, Distillery Manager and his team here at the distillery’.
‘To win two significant awards in a short space of time is extremely pleasing and shows that we must being doing something right.’
On the 11th June Kilchoman took up sponsorship of the Islay Beach Rugby 2016 tournament. The beach rugby competition has gone from strength to strength over the years, attracting players from far and wide, including some ex internationals. It has become one of the highlights of the Islay calendar with plenty of local food and drink for everyone to enjoy as well as the feast of rugby on show.
The ‘Battle on the Beach’ was a huge success and thank you to Islay rfc for putting on a great event. Both mens and womens competitions were fiercely competitive and certainly not for the faint hearted! Although the sun only shone briefly on the day, a large crowd fuelled by drams of Machir Bay stayed until the end to watch the finals played out on Port Ellen beach.
Congratulations to Team 200 who came out victorious in the womens final and we are very proud to say Kilchoman won the mens competition, a third triumph in a row!
Thank you to everyone who came along and made it such a great day. Looking forward to next year already!
Kilchoman are the proud sponsors of the Islay Pipe Band. They have been hugely successful and in order to support them this year we have bottled a single cask with all the proceeds being donated to keep the Islay Pipe Band competing at the top!
The bottling is a single bourbon cask from 2011 at 59.5%abv. The tasting notes are by John Maclellans son Sandy, who is an active member of the Islay Pipe Band. The rear of the carton shows a happy John MacLellan with Sandy on his graduation day. This is for sale at the distillery for £80 per bottle by cash or cheque only. Only a few bottles left now…
The big news is that Machir Bay has been crown Best Islay Single Malt Whisky at this year’s International Whisky Competition… a bit of healthy competition between neighbours is never a bad thing! As well as the coveted 1st place in the Islay category, Machir Bay also secured 1st for Best Peated Whisky and 2nd for the marquee title of Best Single Malt Whisky.
Click below for a full list of results
www.whiskycompetition.com/2016-results/
Rockside farm is situated on the west coast of Islay. We are on the Gulf Stream which keeps our weather relatively mild and usually wet. In the winter we have strong winds and sometimes severe gales that whip in straight off the Atlantic.
We farm 2,322 acres of which only some 160 acres are suitable for growing barley and 1,738 is hill ground.
Islay is an important wintering ground for the Greenland barnacle goose and the Greenland white-fronted goose. In October/ November annually around 45,000 geese flock to the island and remain until mid April. The geese graze on grass and cause a large amount of damage as they tend to pull the root of the grass out and they “puddle” in any wet areas which can create a lot of muddy areas within fields that take time to recover. This results in several problems. The grass that should be there for the for sheep lambing in March and April is not a good as it could be due to the pressure caused by grazing geese. At Rockside we do not start lambing until c. 17th April to ensure that the geese have gone and the sheep get all the available grass which they need to produce milk for the lamb and to put condition back on after lambing. The presence of the geese also stops us from planting barley much before mid April as the geese will eat the shoots that emerge and will also eat the barley seed out of the ground. This delay in planting usually results in a later harvest than we would like, typically around late August and early September. Days at this time of year are starting to draw in and the weather windows for harvest are short so when an opportunity presents itself it needs to be taken.
This year we are planting c. 100 acres. Due to the very wet winter and the current ground conditions we have not started ploughing yet. We hope to start within the next week and would expect to have the planting completed within the next 5 – 10 days. This will tie in with when we hope the geese will leave. The colder weather at present is also not great for seed germination and with the rain we have had the ground conditions are far from perfect.
The financial risks for doing barley are considerable as all costs are paid at the time of planting and we totally rely on the weather for the crop. Why do we bother – just taste a dram of 100% Islay – makes all the worry and risk worthwhile!
The 2016 edition of Loch Gorm is now available! Loch Gorm is located to the north of the distillery and is very dark and peaty in colour, similar to the dark rich colour of our sherry cask matured single malt.
Loch Gorm has been part of our range since it was first introduced in 2012 and is the only release matured exclusively in oloroso sherry casks. This edition of Loch Gorm is limited to just 17 casks worldwide and was selected from a combination of fresh and refill oloroso sherry butts over six years of age, the oldest release of Loch Gorm to date. The added maturation and combination of fresh and refill sherry casks provide a balance of powerful rich flavours, spicy notes and peat smoke.
The updated packaging for the 2016 release features stunning views over Loch Gorm, just a short distance from the distillery gates.
Anthony Wills, Kilchoman Founder and Managing Director; “The whole range is developing year on year and it is exciting to release the next evolution of Loch Gorm. Maturation exclusively in oloroso sherry butts has given this release a beautiful balance of big, rich sherry flavours, smoke and softer fruits typical of Kilchoman.”
Slainte!
Spring has sprung on Islay after a period of pretty horrible weather. With spring comes the annual planting of our barley. It has now been sown and all being well (fingers crossed the good weather continues) come August we will be harvesting, drying and storing it ready for malting and distilling in 2016. The 100 tonnes we harvest each year is used exclusively to produce our 100% Islay release, the latest edition of which will be launched on Monday.
Growing, malting and distilling barley on Islay has its own unique challenges, not least the weather (it doesn’t always look like this!). That said these unique conditions create a truly distinctive single malt as a result, making all the extra work well worth the effort!
Monday 23rd
Founders Tour with Anthony Wills 2pm
An in depth tour of the distillery with founder Anthony Wills, finishing in our new tasting room where you will have the chance to taste some of our earliest releases and cask samples.
£40 – 12 places available
Tuesday 24th
Angels Share Glass Presentation 2 – 4pm
Angels’ Share Glass will be joining in the festival fun with their workshop at Kilchoman’s Visitor Centre on Tuesday 24th. From 2pm – 4pm they will be demonstrating how they use their amazing glassblowing skills to make their famous Whisky Angels’ but you’ll have to close your eyes as they seal in some of our festival release as this technique is top secret!
Manager’s Tour with George Wills 2pm
An in depth tour of the distillery with George Wills, finishing in our new tasting room where you will have the chance to taste some of our earliest releases and cask samples.
£30 – 12 places available
Wednesday 25th
Manager’s Tour with James Wills 2pm
An in depth tour of the distillery with James Wills, finishing in our new tasting room where you will have the chance to taste some of our earliest releases and cask samples.
£30 – 12 places available
Regular distillery tours are available throughout the week, please e-mail, tours@kilchoman.com to book.
Thursday 26th May
Kilchoman Open Day
Be a Bottler
9.30am, 11.30am, 3pm and 4pm
Join our bottling team and experience the time and care that goes into every bottle of Kilchoman. Fill and label your own bottle of Machir Bay using our hands-on approach, and get it authenticated and signed.
£50 (includes your personalised bottle of Machir Bay) 12 places available
Kilchoman Distillery Farm Tour with Islay Heads
11am and 2pm
General Manager Islay heads will give you a guided tour of how the Distillery and Farm work in harmony, including a tour of the barley fields and other parts of the farm. You will enjoy drams of 100% Islay and our new spirit while standing in the very fields the barley was grown.
£25 – 12 places available
Anthony Wills Masterclass
12pm
A masterclass with distillery founder, Anthony Wills, tasting a wide range of cask samples from the early days and hearing all about life at Kilchoman from the man who started it all. Anthony will hand select cask samples from the warehouse, guiding you through each one.
£40 – 50 places available
Club Members’ Masterclass
2pm
A masterclass exclusively for Kilchoman Club Members, tasting some of our sold out releases which are no longer available. Peter Wills, who was the first of Anthony and Kathy’s three sons to join Kilchoman, will talk you through the evolution of the distillery since he joined as a fresh faced 18 year old.
£30 – 50 places available
Blind Nosing Competition – Prize Draw 4pm
Test your knowledge of Kilchoman – buy a ticket for £2 – nose all the glasses THEN fill in your guess (or you may even be very sure) for each glass. All correct entries will be put into a draw and the lucky winner declared at 4pm. The prize is a bottle of Kilchoman’s Feis Ile 2016. All proceeds to charity.
Still House Visits
Throughout the day there’s the opportunity to visit the still house to chat to our production team. Get up close whilst the team collect our new make spirit as it runs off the stills.
(No pre booking required)
Tutored Land Rover Tastings
Taste through a range of current Kilchoman expressions with Anthony’s three sons, George, James and Peter. Available throughout the day.
£10 (no pre-booking required)
Live Music from 10.30am – 5pm
Trail West, Islay Pipe Band, The Blueswater & Reely Jiggered
Available throughout the day
BBQ, bar, café, gift shop, whisky!
All bookings must be made by phone 01496 850011 – a non-refundable deposit will be taken for each pre booking
A tribute from Anthony Wills, Managing Director.
In 2010 we were looking for a Manager, hoping to attract someone with experience beyond production to help us grow Kilchoman globally. We never dreamt that someone of Johns experience would believe in what we were doing so much that he would want to join us. He brought with him a wealth of knowledge, a dry sense of humour and a massive following within the whisky world, putting Kilchoman on the map.
John worked well with everyone but especially enjoyed working alongside the younger members of staff praising them when things were done well and encouraging them to make the most of their abilities wherever they worked.
On a personal note, I will miss his positive attitude, his support, his wealth of knowledge and a willingness to get his hands dirty helping in every area of the distillery, even clearing tables in the Café. What I have learnt from him will continue to help build Kilchoman and I will always be grateful.
My thoughts and those of everyone at Kilchoman are with John’s wife Lindy and their two children Rosie and Sandy at this desperately sad time.
A fund in honour of John has been set up for the Beatson Cancer Charity – https://www.beatsontributefund.org/fund/John%20MacLellan
