
Kilchoman's Gone Cask Strength with Two new(ish) Releases
Have you tried either of the Cask Strength releases from the Kilchoman Distillery yet?
Islay's farm distillery was founded in 2005 by Anthony Wills, his wife Kathy, and their three sons, George, James and Peter. Now into their 20th year as a business, the distillery celebrated 16 years of maturation last year with their oldest release.
With a solid core range consisting of Machir Bay, and Sanaig, Kilchoman has garnered a following dedicated to their excellent spirit. This following is kept interested with annual releases of their 100% Islay release and 100% Sherry matured release, Loch Gorm. Alongside these are excellent Single Cask and Small Batch releases which showcase the spirit in a range of interesting casks - from Tequila to Calvados.
Lately, Kilchoman have added a third release to their core range, the Batch Strength. Coming off the heels of the massively successful Cask Strength Machir Bay release, where calls came for a core whisky that packed a bigger punch than the 46% norm.
The Batch Strength is bottled at 57%, emphasising the naturally robust character of Kilchomans locally sourced peat, West Coast salinity and malty, sweetly smoked spirit.
Matured in a combination of re-charred red wine casks, oloroso sherry butts and bourbon barrels, Batch Strength is a slightly different cask recipe to the Machir Bay limited edition. The most obvious change is the addition of the red wine casks.
Whilst not naturally cask strength, it does have a meaty, weighty feel to the whisky, filling the mouth with flavour quickly, without an overpowering heat. Notes of toffee, salted caramel and sweet smoked cereals come through in classic Kilchoman style. These are backed up with influences of the wine and sherry. Dark fruits, blackcurrants and tart raspberries combine with a sherry spice of cinnamon and nutmeg. Freshly cooked apple pie, slightly burnt, lingers in the finish in a lovely sweet, salty, smoky finish.
It's a powerful dram but with a lot of flavour.
Again, following the success of the Machir Bay Cask Strength, the distillery recently released a Cask Strength version of their other core range - Sanaig Cask Strength.
Bottled at a natural cask strength of 57.8% abv, this release follows the same recipe as the core range. Predominantly matured in Oloroso Sherry casks, with a small amount of ex-Bourbon casks giving a sweet depth of flavour to the marriage.
This limited edition has an intenseness about it, the whisky revels in the sherry oak, drawing spices such as cinnamon, nutmeg and clove from the wood. There's a dry, orange peel note as well as dark chocolate bitterness keeping a dryness amongst the sweeter, salted caramel salinity. Dates, sticky toffee sauce and a rich peat give a complexity of sweet smoke and fruitiness.
It's a well balanced sherry hitter that should please those with an affinity to both Sherry and Peated whisky.
Both whisky releases will appeal to fans of Kilchoman whisky, with a little bit more punch, I can imagine they would also draw in more hardened whisky fans who look for a dram with a strength higher than the norm.
Both whiskies, alongside Kilchoman's core range and special releases, are currently available from Inverurie Whisky Shop.
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