Carol-Ann and I set off from Scotland on the 25th April to pick up the Land Rover in Frankfurt and begin the Germany leg of the European Tour, following on from a successful first week in Luxembourg, Belgium and The Netherlands with James and George.
We arrived with no issues and got ourselves set for the week ahead. Working with the team at Hanseatische, we had a full week of events and tastings planned. First up was a pouring event at Whisky For Life where the Land Rover attracted in a fair number, or maybe it was the tour bottling! We then had a rather large tasting of 11 drams at Whisky Spirits – not for the faint hearted! A good first day and it was then off to Dortmund. Weinhaus Hilgering was the venue for our next pouring event. Again, the tour bottling and a sneak preview of the Cognac and Fino Cask Matured releases went down well with everyone. The next day was our drive to Hamburg and this was when the Land Rover decided that it was time to take a break (sorry for anyone expecting to see us arriving in it when instead we arrived in the Hanseatische company car!). Many faults with Land Rover has seen it go out of action for the foreseeable – we’re hoping we can get it back on the road soon. I’d like to note that although Catherine is telling everyone that it was me who broke it, I promise I didn’t! It made for a good story at least. Once we arrived, Men’s Needs hosted the afternoon session followed by Weinquelle Lühmann. Carol-Ann’s last stop was in Berlin where we had a pouring session in KaDeWe followed by a tasting at Whisky and Cigars; two completely different tastings but the love for Kilchoman was certainly felt!
Carol-Ann departed Berlin and I was joined by Catherine for the next leg of the tour. Before moving onto the next country, we had a seven-hour drive to Munich to meet the team at Tara Spirits for our next event. Now we had a Ford hire-van, we weren’t nearly as noticeable as we made our way to Munich – unfortunately at this point we had no word about the Land Rover being back on the road.
From Munich, we made our way to Austria where we stopped off in Vienna at Potstill and Graz at Dr Bottle, finishing with a tasting with The Islay Whisky Chapter group. Between Germany and Austria, we were receiving incredible feedback for the distillery, the team, our upcoming projects and the whiskies we were sampling! It was great to catch up with some familiar faces at this point too.
Departing Graz, we made our way to Bratislava where we met with the Svet Nápojov team to host an in-store sampling before heading across to The Izzi Pub for our tasting. Peter managed to organise a tasting for those in the venue but also for those online – a great turnout and a night that made a lot smile.
At this point, we considered ourselves to be a dab hand at driving, though when we made it to Budapest, the parking was nearly as bad as trying to park on Bowmore main street! WhiskyNet did an incredible job of the event in GoodSpirit bar. Both the afternoon and evening sessions were packed out and the new make spirit samples and distillery live-stream were a hit.
Our last stop was Croatia; a taxi hire to get to Zagreb by midday (if you couldn’t tell, the Land Rover still hadn’t made a comeback as of yet). We were welcomed by a full house at Fine Stvari and then at the Esplanade Hotel later that evening. It was Catherine and I’s first time in Zagreb, and we were made to feel at home straight away.
After two weeks on the road, we completely felt the love for Kilchoman. We caught up with long-time fans of the distillery alongside some who have just started getting into whisky and trying Kilchoman for the first time. The tour bottling, Cognac and Fino Matured Cask Matured releases and to be honest, the full range, all went down incredibly well over our 2-week journey across Europe. Catherine and I had a fantastic time on the road (and a great laugh too) – and so a huge thanks to all of the venues that hosted us and to all that attended the events – what a trip!
After a 4am hotel departure for our flight back to Scotland, we’ve handed over to Peter and Antea who are Slovenia and Italy for the week ahead.
Be sure to tag @kilchomanwhisky in any photos!
Slainte,
Chloe
The first of our limited-edition cask expressions in 2023 have now launched! The vattings for both Cognac Cask Matured and Fino Sherry Cask Matured took place in March earlier this year with casks being tasted and hand selected by Anthony Wills and Robin Bignal at Kilchoman Distillery on the Isle of Islay. Now bottled and shipped directly from Islay, you should begin to see bottles in your nearest retailer appearing shortly!
The Cognac Cask Matured is a vatting of 32 Cognac casks sourced from Tonellerie Bossuet (France). The 2023 limited edition sees our heavily peated spirit spend its full maturation in Cognac casks for a minimum of six years. During its maturation, the spirit has captured the herbaceous, sweet spice from the Cognac casks which balances with our citrus-fruit led spirit, allowing the maritime Kilchoman peat smoke to subtly shine through.
“The limited-edition cask exploration editions allow us to experiment with our spirit here at Kilchoman. The Cognac casks selected for this 2023 release permit our fruit-driven, citrus spirit style to balance with that of the Cognac oak. There is a delicate balance to be found when working with Cognac casks; keeping the age of this release at a minimum of six years old ensures the flavours from the spirit and the cask are easily detected, neither dominates,” Anthony Wills, Kilchoman Founder.
Cognac is a variety of brandy which has been produced from a distilled white wine. Cognac must be twice distilled (using copper pot stills) and aged for a minimum of two years in French oak barrels (typically Limousin). To firstly produce the white wine, the grapes are grown in specific designated growing regions and harvested towards the end of the year, typically around October. The grapes are then pressed and fermented, naturally without the addition of sugar, reaching 9%abv. This is then twice distilled in copper pot stills with the heart of the distillation transferred to the above-mentioned oak barrels for maturation. A minimum maturation period of two years is required. The Cognac casks used at Kilchoman have been purchased from Bossuet Cooperage in France originating from a single Cognac house. These 300 bulk litre casks have worked incredibly well with our spirit imparting flavour profiles such as dried fruits, toffee and warm spices.
The 2023 Fino Sherry Cask Matured limited edition is a vatting of 20 Fino Sherry Butts, previously used by Bodega Jose y Miguel Martin (Spain). Our Kilchoman spirit has matured fully, for a minimum of five years in Fino. During its maturation, the spirit has developed a dry salinity which is balanced with a green fresh fruit influence and elongated delicate peat smoke.
“The Fino Sherry maturation works incredibly well with our classic Kilchoman character. The 2023 release elevates the fragrant green apple, stewed fruits and sweet citrus while allowing for the unmistakeable Kilchoman peat smoke to linger on the palate. Fino is another example of sherry casks working together, not against, our Kilchoman spirit,” Anthony Wills, Kilchoman Founder.
Fino sherry is a light, dry type of Sherry, originating from the Jerez region in southern Spain. Fino is produced from the Palomino grape variety. Due to Fino being more delicate than Oloroso or Pedro Ximénez, the grapes used to produce Fino are grown in top-quality soils such as the chalky albariza marls. Once the grapes are ready to harvest, they are picked and fermented into a light wine which is then fortified with distilled wine, reaching approximately 15% abv. It is then aged under a layer of yeast, known as ‘velo de flor’ to prevent contact with the air, minimising the risk of oxidation. The casks used during this ageing process are American oak butts which are stored using the traditional solera system in the bodega. The average maturation sits between 4 – 7 years. When using these casks at Kilchoman for maturing our spirit, flavour profiles of yeast, dough and almonds can easily be identified while also providing a rich saline profile with hints of fresh herbs.
Cognac & Fino Cask Matured will be available from your regular Kilchoman stockists around the world from this week.
For more information email info@kilchomandistillery.com
Click here to become a Kilchoman Club Member and be one of the first to hear about all our future releases and other news from the distillery.
From Sunday 14th May, we are delighted to say that we will be opening 7 days per week from 9.45 to 5pm each day. Our staff have been very busy over the Winter months getting everything ready and we can’t wait to welcome old and new friends back for what we hope will be an action filled summer of tasting, tours and lots of Kilchoman whisky chat. We have some new tastings to share with you and some old favourites making a come-back.
In addition to our tasting bar, our on-site café is open daily, from 10am to 4.30pm serving delicious home-baked cakes, teas and coffee. Lunches are served from 12noon to 3.30pm each day. Our Cullen Skink is world famous, so booking is advisable as tables fill up very quickly.
Our Café and Visitor Centre are dog friendly, and we love to welcome all your four-legged companions. Please advise when booking tables in the café if you are bringing your pet along with you as spaces are limited.
For information on available tours and tastings, please click here.
We look forward to seeing you all this summer,
Kilchoman Visitor Centre Team.
🏅🏅The 2023 Award season is now underway and we are delighted to share the news that Sanaig was awarded ‘Double Gold’ and Machir Bay ‘Gold’ at the 2023 San Francisco World Spirits Competition.
Sanaig is a vatting of both oloroso sherry and bourbon casks. The high proportion of oloroso sherry influence adds a balance of dried fruits and spices to classic Kilchoman citrus sweetness and peat smoke character. Sourcing casks of the highest quality is at the forefront of what we do at Kilchoman. These bourbon barrels were sourced directly from Buffalo Trace Distillery, Kentucky, USA and the oloroso sherry casks, as with all our sherry casks, have come from Bodega José y Miguel Martin in Jerez, Spain.
Anthony & Kathy Wills recently visited Jerez and spent some time with Miguel. The care and attention to detail that goes into making these casks and the sherry they produce is amazing. Click here to find out more about the visit.
In contrast to Sanaig, Machir Bay is predominantly matured in bourbon casks. With a vatting of 90% bourbon barrels and 10% oloroso sherry casks, the result is a whisky full of citrus sweetness, cooked fruits and maritime peat smoke. The high proportion of bourbon barrels creates a distinct balance of classic Islay character and fresh floral complexity.
Click here to find out more about Machir Bay and Sanaig, as well as our other releases.
George and I started our week on tour with a 17 hour journey from Scotland to Luxembourg. I set off at 4am, collected George on my way south and reached Massen in northern Luxembourg at about 9pm that evening. No drama with the Land Rover or customs checks. A successful first day.
If you’ve ever been to Massen then you’ll know that it is no ordinary whisky shop, we had a great day pouring at the final day of their whisky festival before heading off to Belgium. During that week, we must have zigzagged across Belgium three or four times. Did anyone see us on the motorway?? There’s a prize for the first person who gets a picture of the Land Rover mid-journey and tags us in the picture!
What was originally planned as short stops to drop some tour bottles during the day, turned into mini-tasting, even if it was 10am. The evening events were brilliant, loads of enthusiastic whisky lovers, some recently turned-on to Kilchoman and plenty of fully-fledged Kilchoman super-fans. Everyone loved the whiskies, the tour bottling in particular was a huge hit (so were the Cognac and Fino Matured pre-release samples hidden in the Land Rover… ask Chloe and Carol-Ann if you see them this week).
The live calls with the stillhouse team were great with two exceptions…. The time Russel did a tour upside-down and the time one lady took a big drink of what she thought was water which turned out to be our 63.5% new make which took her a little bit by surprise!
From there we drove north to the Netherlands for three days of events, eventually getting to our changeover point of Frankfurt airport late on Sunday… once we had negotiated the autobahn and a burning lorry in the middle of the highway.
Hartelijk bedankt! See you next time!
James
When looking to try a scotch whisky, we’re lucky to be exposed to an array of flavours, aromas, and styles from all over the country but what are the whisky regions of Scotland and how do they impact the style of spirit being produced?
Whisky – be it any style – is produced in many areas across Scotland from East to West, to North to South. The history, quality and volume of the spirit produced has meant that Scotland is one of the most desired countries in the world of whisky. Within Scotland, we’re able to break up the areas producing scotch whisky into five regions (with one sub-region): Islay, Highlands, Speyside, Lowlands and Campbeltown (and the Islands). Each region traditionally produces distinct characteristics making them individual from others in the surrounding land. Historically, the region not only defined where the scotch was being produced but also its style. An example of generalised flavour profiles found within each region of Scotland can be found below:
- Islay – driven by heavily-peated, smoky styles – often intense, maritime, dry smoke is found
- Highlands – less peaty with a sweeter, drier influence
- Speyside – very little or no peat influence, more fruit and sweeter style
- Lowlands – often lighter with no peat influence
- Campbeltown – rich in character, can be relatively peated
- Islands – not an official region but can be considered a sub-region of the Highlands, producing maritime, less peated styles
Looking at the above list, it asks the question; is this still the best way to determine the flavour profiles found when specifically looking at Single Malt Whisky? It could be argued that the region that the distillery is based within, primarily determines the location more than the profile of whisky being produced.
If we take the region of Islay as an example, as stated, heavily-peated whiskies are what the island is known traditionally for producing, but from the 9 currently operating Islay distilleries on the island, we know that we also have un-peated and lightly-peated malts being released with further experiments taking place. This is a positive for anyone looking to enjoy Islay whisky but also looking to develop their palate.
Let’s look at the Isle of Islay a little closer; the island of Islay can be found on the southernmost of Scotland’s Inner Hebrides and is known to many as the ‘Queen of the Hebrides’ with an approximate population of +3200 people currently based on the island. Due to the long-standing history of distilling on the island, the quality of the spirits and their distinctive flavour characteristics, it is quite rightly noted as its own region.
When it comes to the climate and landscape of Islay, it’s as unique as each of the Scottish islands. The island is largely comprised of peat bogs which is one of the main reasons distilleries produce a heavily-peated style of single malt on the island. The source of the peat has a significant influence on the barley used to produce single malt whisky – you can read more about that here. Distilling on Islay dates back hundreds of years. Some of the most well-known, still in operation, older Islay distilleries would be Bowmore, Lagavulin and Laphroaig. From these distilleries alone, we’re exposed to a distinct style of heavily-peated single malt. As time has gone by, several of the Islay distilleries have begun to experiment with their profiles of single malt. We’re now exposed to a multitude of flavours, each defining each distillery in its own right. You’re able to find single malt created from un-peated malt (0-3ppm), heavily peated (30-55ppm) and super-heavily peated (80-309ppm) all from the one island!
At Kilchoman we know that using the Islay name symbolises more than just having the distillery based on Islay. The reason Kilchoman was established was to bring back the traditional method of producing Single Malt; from barley to bottle, on the very island the distillery is built on. Yes, we produce a heavily-peated spirit – our 50ppm house style is a nod to that classic peated Islay style – but we also focus a proportion on lightly peated, 100% Islay-grown, sitting at 20ppm – you can check out our latest 100% Islay 12th Edition, here. Anthony and the team at the distillery want to give you a taste of that definitive Islay peat smoke but with a newfound elegance and balance, bringing citrus-sweet spirit influence alongside a malt-driven profile. Kilchoman is the only Single Farm Single Malt scotch whisky distillery on the island who focus on every element of production, from growing the barley on our own farm and seeing this through to bottling on-site. It’s a balance to ensure we maintain the rich history that Islay has rightly acquired over the years while capturing this in our own, unique way.
Click here and join our Kilchoman Club to keep up to date with what is going on at Kilchoman and to be amongst the first to know about new releases
The countdown is on for Fèis Ìle 2023! Kilchoman Fèis Day 2023 is on Thursday 1st June. After our biggest fèis to date in 2022, we’re excited to be underway with planning for this year.
We have been busy selecting a range of special drams and cask samples for the masterclass events as well as planning various tours, activities, live music and entertainment which will take place throughout the day. And of course, there will be our Fèis Ìle 2023 release which will be available from the distillery shop only (limited to one bottle per person). £120 per bottle (70cl), approx 1159 bottles.
All the Masterclasses and a selection of events and tours can be booked in advance, click here for full details and availability.
MASTERCLASS EVENTS
- 10:30 – Founder’s Cask Tasting with Anthony Wills (Open to Club Members only, sign up here)
- 12:00 – Barley Varieties Exploration Tasting with James Wills and Chloe Wood
- 14:00 – Live Online Tasting with Anthony & Peter Wills – Tasting Packs available to purchase from our online shop
- 14:30 – Past, Present & Future Tasting with George Wills and Antea Allegro
Book Here
BOOKABLE EVENTS
- Be A Bottler – 9:30, 11:00, 12:30, 14:00, 15:30 (includes a personalised bottle of a Distillery Exclusive Single Cask).
- Islay’s Farm Tour – 10:00, 12:00, 14:00 – Islay Heads, General Manager, will take you on a guided tour around the farm and local area, sampling a few drams along the way!
- Range Tastings – we will be running these short guided tastings of 4 core range whiskies regularly throughout the day (Tickets can be bought on the day at the bar).
Book Here
EXPLORE
All our main production areas will be open and operational throughout the day so it’s a great chance to see everything in action and have time to chat to the experts that work at each stage, these include;
- Still House – chat with the still house team while taking a look at our stills in action. Enjoy a dram of Machir Bay on us and learn more about where the flavours you’re tasting come from. Take the opportunity to ask the team all your questions about the mashing, fermentation and distillation stages.
- Malt Floor – discover the ancient art of traditional floor malting, learn more about peat, see the kiln, try turning the malt yourself and enjoy a dram of 100% Islay which has been produced from barley malted on this very floor.
- Warehouse No.4 – explore one of our traditional dunnage warehouses, take a picture with Cask No.1 and enjoy a wee dram of Sanaig while chatting to the team about our maturation programme and the cask types currently in the warehouses at Kilchoman.
- Barley Fields – stop off at the field gates as you come down the drive to the distillery and see the progress of the 2023 barley varieties, Sassy and Planet.
EATING, DRINKING, DANCING & SHOPPING
- The Whisky Bar will be serving a selection of past and present drams of Kilchoman limited editions, Comraich Batches and Single Casks. Driver dram bottles will also be available
- Cocktail Bar – our friends from The Malt Room Bar in Inverness have created whisky cocktails which will be available from the bar throughout the day, fingers crossed for cocktail weather.
- Live music throughout the day in the Music Marquee from Atlantic Reel, Rollin’ Drones and The Kilchoman Distillery Isle of Islay Pipe Band. Bring your dancing shoes for a boogie in the courtyard!
- BBQ with delicious local meats, light bites from the Salad Bar, teas, coffees and home baking from the Café. Vegetarian and vegan options will be available.
- All the branded gear you could ever want from the Distillery Shop
- Games & Activities with various prizes
WHISKY SHOP
The whisky shop will be open from 10am stocking all our recent Limited Editions, the latest Distillery Shop Exclusive Single Casks and of course, our very special Fèis ìle 2023 bottling.
FÈIS ÌLE 2023 BOTTLING
The Fèis Ìle 2023 Release is a vatting of three casks distilled from Publican barley grown, malted and distilled at Kilchoman in 2011 and 2012. Kilchoman founder, Anthony Wills, personally selected two bourbon barrels and one sherry butt to be vatted together and bottled at natural cask strength.
“Selecting casks for our annual Fèis Ìle release is the highlight of my year. I’ve always enjoyed the balance of character achieved by combining both bourbon and sherry casks, the bourbon barrels enhance and exhibit the character of the Kilchoman spirit whilst the sherry butt adds layers of richness and complexity. The result is a beautifully balanced example of Kilchoman Single Farm Single Malt, a credit to the hard work of all the team, both on the farm and in the distillery,” Anthony Wills, Kilchoman Founder.
The Fèis ìle 2023 bottling will only be available from the distillery on Thursday 1st June and will be limited to one bottle per person.
ONLINE LIVE TASTING & DISTILLERY TOURS
We’re looking forward to welcoming many of you to the distillery on Thursday 1st June but if you can’t make it in person, don’t worry, we will do our best to bring a taste of fèis to you virtually wherever you are in the world.
Throughout the day we will be going live from various production areas around the distillery, having a chat with the Kilchoman team and visitors and listening to the live music, so wherever you are in the world you can join in too! We’ll be live on our Facebook & Instagram.
Live Tasting – Join us live at 2pm for an online tasting of recent and upcoming limited edition releases including the Fèis 2023 release. Tasting packs can be purchased in advance here so you’ll have the whiskies to sample along with us.
The Kilchoman Land Rover is heading back on the road! After European tours in 2014, 15′, and 18′ we’re loading up the Land Rover with Kilchoman goodies and heading across Europe once again. This time we’ll be hitting 13 countries during a six week tour, starting in Luxembourg on April 16th, finishing back on Islay for our Fèis Ìle.
As well as our range of award winning whiskies and an exclusive tour bottling, we’ll also be bringing some of our famous new make spirit. Robin Bignal and his production team will be dialling in via live feed from the distillery to explain how we make our unique spirit and where those aromas and flavours come from.
The European Tour limited edition release of 3,325 bottles is exclusively available at the tour stops. Matured in bourbon and port casks and bottled at natural cask strength (58.5%), this release is a punchy mix of red berries, mixed spices, fresh vanilla sweetness and integrated maritime peat smoke. You don’t want to miss out on this one!
See the full list of tour stops below, a blend of informal afternoon events and larger evening tastings. Come along and say hi to the team, hear some stories of life at Kilchoman, taste some great whisky and have some fun!
Belgium / Luxembourg
16TH APRIL : Shopping Centre Massen, Wemperhardt, LU
17TH APRIL : De Schelf Spirits, Hamme, BE
18THAPRIL : Huis Aerts, Bree, BE
19THAPRIL: Drink Factory, Mons, BE
20THAPRIL: TasTToe, Boortmeerbeek, BE
Netherlands
21ST APRIL : Van der Boog, The Hague
Vonk Zaandam, Amsterdam
22ND APRIL : Woudenberg Whisky Show, Utrecht/Arnhem
23RD APRIL : Berendsen Dranken, Enschede
Germany
26TH APRIL : Whisky For Life, Frankfurt
Whisky Spirits, Frankfurt
27TH APRIL : Hilgering, Dortmund
28TH APRIL : Men’s Needs, Hamburg
Weinquelle Lühmann, Hamburg
29TH APRIL : KaDeWe, Berlin
Whisky & Cigars, Berlin
1ST MAY : Tara Spirits, Munich
Austria
2ND MAY : Potstill, Vienna
3RD MAY : Dr. Bottle, Graz
Slovakia
4TH MAY : Svet Nápojov, Bratislava
The Izzi Pub, Bratislava
Hungary
5TH MAY : GoodSpirits Bar, Budapest
Croatia
6TH MAY : Fine Stvari, Zagreb
Esplanade Hotel, Zagreb
Slovenia
9TH MAY : Lord Byron Pub, Koper
Italy
10TH MAY : Ferrowine, Castelfranco
Boss Hogg Whisky County, Treviso
11TH MAY : Whisky Antique, Formigine
Atlas Whisky Bar, Bologna
12TH MAY : Baobab Café, Milano
Julep Cocktail Bar, Milano
13TH MAY : Whisky Club Italia, La Limonaia di Merone
XXL Café Chivasso, Torino
Switzerland
16TH MAY : Globus, Zürich
The Whisky Store, Rapperswil-Jona
17TH MAY : Häberli, Dagmersellen
Friends of Isles & Islay, Lucerne
France
18TH MAY : La Bouchonnerie, Annecy
La Java des Flacons, Annecy
19TH MAY : Bon Plan du Vin, Beaune
Whiskies & Spirit, Beaune
20TH MAY : Au Secret du Vins, Lille
UK
24TH MAY : Milroys of Soho, London
The Whisky Exchange, London (Covent Garden)
25TH MAY : Aston’s of Manchester, Manchester
House of Malt, Carlisle
26TH MAY : RMW, Edinburgh
Uesquebae, Edinburgh
27TH MAY : Good Spirits, Glasgow
Robbie’s Drams, Ayr
28TH MAY : Green Welly Stop, Tyndrum
The George Hotel, Inverary
For more information about events and how to purchase tickets please contact the venues directly
For general enquiries please email info@kilchomandistillery.com
Anthony Wills, Kilchoman Founder & Master Distiller, has always placed great importance on sourcing casks of the highest quality. This is precisely what he obtains from José y Miguel Martín, whose sherry casks are always of exceptional quality.
In February 2023, Kathy and Anthony went on a trip to Spain to visit Miguel Martín, our sherry cask supplier since the distillery was founded in 2005. Over the years, a great working relationship has flourished, and Miguel Martín consistently provides sherry casks of outstanding quality. During the visit Kathy and Anthony had the opportunity to spend some time on-site with Miguel and meet some of the individuals involved in the family business, from the team crafting the casks in the cooperage to the people producing and maturing the sherry wines in the bodegas.
The visit provided a glimpse of the passion and enthusiasm that the José y Miguel Martín team have for creating the highest quality casks. From sourcing the best American and European oak to the meticulous process of constructing the highest quality casks on-site, to exploring and learning more about the production of different sherry wines, the trip was very successful and enjoyable for Kathy & Anthony and only deepened their appreciation for what Miguel and his team do. And of course, tasting the different sherries along the way was definitely a highlight. Anthony now has his eye on some other sherry cask types to experiment with at Kilchoman!
Family Business
Anthony and Kathy Wills founded Kilchoman in 2005. As the business grew, their three sons, George, James and Peter, came on board. Kilchoman has remained an independently owned and family run business, which is fairly unique in the whisky industry.
Anthony is delighted to be able to source his sherry casks from José y Miguel Martín, which is also a family run business. It was a privilege and a pleasure to spend time with Miguel, who is the second generation in his family business, as well as other family members including his nephews.
“I always enjoy working with family run businesses. The passion, commitment and work ethic is something you don’t always see at large multinational companies. Miguel has a vision for his business which is similar to mine. Always produce quality products and be one step ahead of the competition”,
Anthony Wills, Kilchoman Founder
The Cooperage
At Kilchoman we buy our casks directly from source whenever possible to ensure the casks are of a consistently high quality. Being able to take a step further back and learn more about the oak being sourced and the process of how the casks are made was fascinating. Seeing the coopers at work and learning more about the traditional craft, leaves you with a deep appreciation of their expertise and again highlighted that the sherry casks we obtain are crafted with exceptional quality at the forefront.
Traceability is something we often talk about, particularly with our 100% Islay releases which are produced from barley grown on our own farm. It is also something that is being further developed by Jose y Miguel Martín, with the aim of developing a system to enable them to trace the oak back to the location of the forest, identify which cooper crafted each individual cask and the maturation details of the sherry in each cask.
Oloroso Sherry Casks – Loch Gorm
Our Loch Gorm release is exclusively matured in oloroso sherry casks from José y Miguel Martín. These American oak butts are shipped fully intact from their bodegas in Jerez all the way to Islay. By not breaking the casks down for transportation, it ensures that casks arrive at the distillery in the best possible condition ready for us to fill.
The 2024 edition of Loch Gorm was distilled in 2014 and matured in oloroso sherry butts. We use butts for Loch Gorm with the aim of maturing over a longer period of time to give us the balance and depth between the distillery character with the sherry flavours from the casks. This year’s release has an abundance of rich spices and toffee notes – click here for more info.
The eagerly awaited annual release of Loch Gorm has arrived! The vatting has been completed and bottles will be hitting shelves around the world any day now.
Named after the famously dark, peaty loch overlooked by the distillery, our annual Loch Gorm limited edition is our only regular expression matured entirely in oloroso sherry casks.
For the 2023 Edition Anthony and Robin selected a total of 22 casks, 8 distilled in 2013, 6 distilled in 2014, and 8 distilled in 2015. This latest edition of Loch Gorm will be available from Kilchoman stockists around the world from this week (a little longer for those living further away from Scotland). Please contact us if you have any questions about where to find a bottle.
Each cask was chosen for its unique flavour profile which, when combined together with the other 21 casks, create a beautiful balance of rich fruity character with layers of classic Kilchoman peat smoke and citrus sweetness.
“Rather than dominating, Loch Gorm’s oloroso maturation works in harmony with the natural character of Kilchoman. The 2023 release has a fantastic spectrum of flavour, from rich spices and macerated peaches to fresh citrus, ginger, orange zest and waves of salty peat smoke,”
Anthony Wills, Kilchoman Founder.
Loch Gorm 2023 will be available from your regular Kilchoman stockists around the world from this week.
For more information email info@kilchomandistillery.com
Click here to become a Kilchoman Club Member and be one of the first to hear about all our future releases and other news from the distillery.
