Country: Scotland – Islay Distillery: Kilchoman
Type: Single Malt
Age: 8
Cask: Ex-Bourbon & Ruby Port Quarter Cask
ABV: 55.8%
Proof: 112.6
Price: Sold Out
Nose: Cherries, earthy peat, plums, cranberry, caramel, grapefruit, bell peppers, raisins. Water brings citrusy notes
Palate: Orchard fruits, caramel, vanilla, elegant, white peppers, milk chocolate. Thick texture with a jammy feel. As it opens up peat smoke takes the spotlight, feeling like smoking a pipe, leaving salty notes around the edges of the tongue.
Finish: Long, lingering with mint chip chocolate. A touch of maritime (coastal) impact. Oak spices, malt notes with cereals. A touch of Tuscany wine!
I might be living in Northern California but sometimes I feel like I live in Southern California thanks to many Zoom calls in this tough pandemic period. The massive reason for that is the Southern California Whiskey Club, which you can find more on Friends section of my site. We were talking with their people about their Kilchoman 8 single cask pick, though I never thought I would love it this much.
Kilchoman SCWC Cask
When Michael Ries from the club texted me for the retail link, I spent no time and got myself two bottles of the pick. Until I wrote this article, the bottles were long gone. They sold out this pick in 3 (three) days!
Kilchoman Distillery won many hearts in recent years with their whisky. Machir Bay, Loch Gorm or Sanaig, are now favorite whiskies of many Islay whisky enthusiasts. Last year, I found myself finishing a bottle of Kilchoman Port Cask in a week and this was another reason I looked forward to sipping this one.
Southern California Whiskey Club made an excellent job picking this barrel. It was aged for 8 years in 1st fill ex-Bourbon barrel from Buffalo Trace and then finished in famous 100 lt Sandeman Ruby Port Casks. The outcome was only 138 bottles!!!
The nose and palate are incredibly luscious and complex. The earthy peat blending with red fruits, citrus on the nose is at a great balance. Also, the palate has a great amount of jammy feeling in time opening up to peat smoke, tobacco and salinity.
The finish has a long feeling of coastal freshness with sweeter tones of chocolate and vibrant notes of a young Brunello.
I am glad that I landed on multiple bottles on this Kilchoman 8 Single Cask. SCWC's first barrel pick, Ohishi Whisky 7 Year Old Madeira Finish was again a great pick, but they raised their benchmark with this. I am looking forward to seeing their upcoming picks in 2021!!
