Kilchoman 100% Islay 9th Edition Single Malt Review

Courtesy of ScotchWhisky.com

I could have sworn I’d reviewed Kilchoman before on here! I know I notes for the Machir Bay and Sanaig releases somewhere….cue furious flicking of tasting book pages to go find them. Once found I’ll get my thoughts out there.

Kilchoman was until recently the newbie in the world of Islay distilleries and I guess as such also became a bit of a darling distillery for many an Islay malt fan, not least due to the small size and craft nature of the whisky.

Everything in the 100% Islay range is produced entirely at the Kilchoman Rockside farm, from growing and harvesting the barley, to malting, distillation and bottling. While their core bottlings are peated to 50ppm the 100% Islay range goes for 20ppm to allow the malt to shine a bit more.

My first interaction with Kilchoman came around the 5th edition of the 100% Islay release and while I thought that what I got to try was solid and also wasn’t really sure what all the fuss was about. Probably I’m just not exposed enough to the distillery and now that I’m in Florida I’m pretty sure my exposure will be even more limited.

I will of course take the cahnce to try and acquire more Kilchoman in the future if possible to keep broadening my horizons.

Let's Taste.

Kilchoman 100% Islay 9th Edition 50% abv

Vatting of 43 ex bourbon barrels aged for at least 9 years. 12,000 bottles, 20 ppm, £60

Nose: Sweet, fresh and salty. Candied apples & pears, lemon slices, linoleum, pineapple cubes. Green olives in brine. Garden mint, soft peat smoke, salted caramel & oak.

Palate: Sweet on arrival but with an immediate peppery kick and waves of woody bonfire smoke. Second sip brings peppermint creams, dark chocolate, caramel, salted lemons and toffee apples. Biscuity malt too.

Finish: Short to medium in length with brackish water, caramel sweetness and then quite a pronounced ashiness.

Score: 6 out of 10

Overall: A solid dram but it feels young and not quite integrated just yet. The nose is a lot better than the palate. Probably not one that I’d rush out to replace especially with so many other Islay options available.

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