Kilchoman distillery

Farm buildings of the Kilchoman distillery

Kilchoman is one of the youngest whiskey distilleries in Scotland and one of eight active whiskey distilleries on the Hebridean island of Islay in Scotland.

History

The Kilchoman distillery is located in the northwest of the island of Islay and is the only distillery on the island that are not located directly on the sea. Until the creation of the Abhainn Dearg distillery on the Isle of Lewis in 2008 she was the westernmost distillery in Scotland. She was also the time of its founding in 2005, the first newly established distillery on Islay since 124 years. The distillery started production in June 2005; the first barrel was filled on 14 December 2005. On September 9, 2009 - after the legally prescribed minimum period of aging in barrels of three years - brought the distillery its first whiskey, the so-called Inaugural release to the market. The first of these bottle sold received cash proceeds in the amount of 5400 pounds at auction. The other bottles of the Inaugural Release achieve very high prices among collectors.

Production

Kilchoman is one of Scotland's currently just six distilleries that malt barley used for the production of single-malt whiskey ( about 30% and having a phenol content of about 25 ppm ) itself. To this end, building the distillery on the attached site of Rockside Farm specially barley (and Optic Barley ) to which, however, is "100% Islay ' whiskeys the distillery use only in the manufacture of the so-called. The for the " normal" bottlings barley is used, however, purchased by the also located on Islay Port Ellen maltings of beverage conglomerate Diageo, which is located on the grounds of the former, in 1983 and 1992 closed Port Ellen Distillery. However, the demand for malted barley is comparatively so small that a manufacture according to your own specifications would not be financially rewarding. Instead, relates the distillery parts of the malted for the ( probably peaty worldwide) standard bottling of Ardbeg distillery barley, so that the strength of the smokiness of purchased barley about 50 ppm of phenol content - twice as much as in the own malt - is.

So far, the distillery or at the place a five-year Cask -Strength variant are available only three, three and a half and five years since 2012 ( Machir Bay) whiskeys. Since the publication of the inaugural release four more bottlings each year came at intervals of three months on the market ( Spring, Summer, Autumn or Winter Release). On 16 June 2011, the distillery bottles brought for the first time next to the "100% Islay " Whiskey series on the market. The future is still the introduction of even five-, eight -, ten - and twelve -year-old ( in 2018 ) planned bottlings. Be used for the maturation mainly former first fill and refill bourbon barrels of the brand Buffalo Trace, which in some of the previous bottlings partially and held a post-ripening in Oloroso sherry casks.

With an annual production of currently (as of May 2011) 90000-100000 liters of pure alcohol is at Kilchoman - in addition to about Edradour with an annual production of 90,000 liters also - one of the smallest active Scottish whiskey distilleries.

Assessment

In the ( so far only available in English ) 6th edition of the standard work Whisky Malt Whisky Companion of the late 2007 whiskey expert Michael Jackson the inaugural release of Kilchoman distillery received on average 84 out of 100 possible points. The whiskey author Ian Buxton holds Kilchoman for one of 101 whiskeys that you should have tried for whiskey lovers. In the Whisky Bible, Jim Murray rated the inaugural release of Kilchoman with 87.5 points out of 100.