Kilchoman is a young distillery located on Islay and in the Islay tradition they produce a peated whisky that’s brimming with that rich smoky briny character the island is famous for. The ex-bourbon barrels they age most of their whisky in comes exclusively from Buffalo Trace and they use Ardbeg spec malt, meaning they use the exact same peated malt from Port Charlotte Maltings, but the two taste incredibly different.
Kilchoman doesn’t come across as strongly peated and more sweet than Ardbeg and also carries with it an overall crispness that the peaty giant often lacks. Not that it’s a bad thing, because I obviously love Ardbeg, but it does make a clear differentiation and shows how you can start with the exact same malt, but end up with a different product based on how it’s distilled and the containers it’s stored in.
9 Expressions of Kilchoman
Kilchoman 100% Islay 2nd Edition (50%)
- Nose: Peat, vanilla, honey, spice, citrus, smoked meat and a touch of salt.
- Palate: Mirrors the nose almost exactly, just a bit more spice.
- Finish: Smoked meat, wood, smoke, vanilla and malt.
- Overall: B+ (87-89) It has a light crisp quality to it, but still retains a rich full body. Great whisky.
Kilchoman 100% Islay 3rd Edition (50%)
- Nose: Peat, cumin, honey, spice, caramel, honey candy and dark fruit.
- Palate: Peat. cumin, brittle, honey, spice, caramel, citrus peel and fruit.
- Finish: Smoked meat, iodine, brine and a light bit of fruit.
- Overall: B (83-86) A touch disjointed, but still a nice whisky.
Kilchoman 100% Islay 4th Edition (50%)
- Nose: Deeper overall aroma than the 2nd & 3rd editions. Peat, caramel, honey, vanilla, spice, leather and brine.
- Palate: Peat, honey, brine, toffee, vanilla, spice and a hint of wood. Like the nose the palate is richer than the 2nd or 3rd.
- Finish: Smoke, brine, wood and fruit.
- Overall: A- (90-92) Without a doubt the 4th edition is better than the 2nd or 3rd and I have a 1st edition at home that I’d give a B+ to. 4th edition for the win!
Kilchoman Cask Strength (59.2%)
- Nose: Dry dirty essence layered with sweetness, peat, vanilla, honey and a mild floral character. I like the duality.
- Palate: Sweet notes are more prevalent on the palate with vanilla, caramel and honey coming through a bit more than the peat, leather, spice and a meatiness.
- Finish: Malt, wood, dar fruit and “meatiness”.
- Overall: B+ (87-89) Something a bit odd about this one with that meatiness showing up on the palate and finish, but I like it. I really enjoy when whisky has bold and differing dimensions to it. Could use a bit more sweetness though to balance it out more.
Kilchoman PX Finish Single Cask 394/2009 (59%)
- Nose: Smoke, red fruit, malt and a raisiny fruit roll-up quality.
- Palate: Dimetapp, frosting, raisins, smoke, malt and graham.
- Finish: Peat, dark fruit, malt and wood.
- Overall: B- (80-82) This is the worst Kilchoman I’ve had but it still comes in at a B-. That’s saying something about the quality of what this distilleries putting out when a bad mark is a mere B-.
Kilchoman Sherry Single Cask 85/2009 (57.9%)
- Nose: Sherry, peat, frosting sweetness, smoked meat, raisins, dark fruit and a touch of tropical fruit.
- Palate: Sherry, smoke, malt, dark fruit and a complex dark sweetness.
- Finish: Peat, sweet, ash and a nice bit of tartness on its way out.
- Overall: A- (90-92) If I had to pick a Kilchoman to drink for the rest of my life it would be this one. Peat and sweet with some complex back notes. Love it.
Kilchoman Sherry Single Cask 494/2008 (59.6%)
- Nose: Sherry, peat, vanilla frosting, dark fruit leather, ash and some toasted nuts.
- Palate: Sherry, peat, ash, a bolder nutty character, dried dark fruit, citrus rind and vanilla frosting.
- Finish: Sherry, peat and ash
- Overall: B (83-86) Especially sitting next to cask 85/2009 this one comes across a bit meh. It’s still good, but it’s not very exciting.
Kilchoman Single Cask 360/2007 (59.9%)
- Nose: Peat, honey, vanilla, malt, spice, citrus, dark fruit, leather and a touch of floral character.
- Palate: Virtually identical with a touch more sweetness.
- Finish: Peat, honey, vanilla and a wee bit o’ oak.
- Overall: B+ (87-89) Yum. It started out a bit closed off, but a small splash of water got things moving and opened it right up.
Kilchoman Machir Bay 2014 edition (50%)
- Nose: Peat, vanilla, honey, citrus zest, spice, light bit of fruit and a touch of dried dark fruit.
- Palate: Peat, vanilla, honey, malt, toasted nuts, spice, citrus and a bit more of that dried dark fruit, but less of the orchard-tropical fruit hybrid from the nose.
- Finish: Peat, vanilla, graham, malt and a bit of frosting-like sweetness.
- Overall: B+ (87-89) Made from 10% sherry casks and 90% Buffalo Trace bourbon casks this whisky has a nice all around character and well worth picking up. Very tasty.
These 9 expressions of Kilchoman bring The Whiskey Jug’s Kilchoman review tally up to a whopping 16 different expressions. The only producers I’ve reviewed more expressions for are Talisker who’s currently sitting at 20, and Ardbeg who’s sitting at 30+. All of which are peated… I don’t know about you, but I’m beginning to see a pattern emerge.
Have you had any of the expressions above? What’s been your experience with Kilchoman? I’d love to read about it in the comments below.
Till next time. Cheers!
