Royal Mile Whiskies – Kilchoman Sherry Cask

I’ve already written about one whisky that I tried at Royal Mile Whiskies ‘new releases’ tasting that I attended back in September. It’s probably about time I did another one.

This is a single cask offering from Kilchoman, still just about Islay’s newest distillery until next year and Ardnahoe begins distillation. With whisky still currently in the ascendency, and peated malt particular in vogue, Kilchoman recently announced plans to double its capacity. This will involve the construction of a new malting floor, capable of malting four tonnes at a time. There will also be a new mash tun, six washbacks and two new stills. In terms of alcohol produced, the current level of production of 230,000 litres will jump to 460,000 litres.

This particular expression of Kilchoman was bottled exclusively for Royal Mile Whiskies. It was distilled on 5^th May 2011 and bottled on 14^th August 2017 from cask number 218/2011. I’m quite surprised that there are still some of the 648 bottles available, but hey, at least this review might be of relevance if you’re reading in time.

Kilchoman 2011 Single Sherry Cask – 57.2% – £89.95 (available here)

Nose – one of the most overtly raisin loaded sherry cask releases I can remember. Very dry. There is some vanilla that adds a creaminess, very reminiscent of ice cream. Brandy snap biscuits, as well as a kick from the not-quite-yet tamed spirit. Any smoke is an afterthought, though it is present. The flavours become more integrated with time and a sweet barley note arises. 6

Palate – whilst the flavours from the nose are present, the dominance is reversed. Ashy smoke billows, the sweet vanilla still offers a creamy backbone. Whilst the sherry influence has been relegated, it persists just about. Whilst the nose offered strong cask flavours, the palate doesn’t seem as mature, the spirit itself shouts loudly. 6.5

Finish – the smoke carries a surprisingly long warming finish. 6

Total Score: 18.5 / 30

At just over six years old, this is another good example of Kilchoman. The trade-off between cask and spirit is well judged, the matching of peat and sherry producing a wonderfully dirty dram, expanding on the themes of the sherry influenced core releases of Sanaig (reviewed here) and Loch Gorm.