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8th May 2021 |
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Review of the Kilchoman
Fèis Ìle 2021 Through the Ages Tasting
Pack which you can join Kilchoman to
taste live online at 6.00pm on Thursday
3rd June.
Fèis
Ìle 2021, Islay's annual festival of
music and malt, is fast approaching and as
with last year due to the ongoing Covid
pandemic the 2021 celebrations will be
online. This year Kilchoman distillery
are planning a packed schedule of events
for their Fèis day on Thursday 3rd June,
everything from fully immersive 360
degree interviews with the production
team to behind the scenes Q&As, Live
Tastings and Food Pairings.
Kilchoman has made three special
Kilchoman whisky tasting packs available
for whisky fans to enjoy and to join in
with live tastings if they wish from the comfort of
their own home.
The second of those packs is the
Kilchoman Through the Ages
pack which contains four whiskies which
will take you through 15 years of
Kilchoman maturation. Starting with
Kilchoman's New Make Spirit before
following the journey of maturation in
ex-bourbon barrels through 2006, 2011
and 2016, this should be a fascinating
journey giving you the and insight of
how wood and time impact the final
character and colour of the Kilchoman
whisky over the years.
You can join Kilchoman to taste the
Kilchoman DNA pack live at 6.00pm on
Thursday 3rd June,
I was lucky enough to get hold of the
Kilchoman DNA pack and this is my
thoughts on the four whiskies in it:
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Kilchoman New Make Spirit Port Ellen
Malt Review
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The Kilchoman new make spirit is the first step in this Kilchoman tasting
journey, produced with Port Ellen Malt and
has been bottled uninfluenced by oak.
Bottled at the usual cask filling
strength of 63.5% ABV, non chill
filtered and naturally coloured.
William
Morrison's Tasting Notes:
Nose:
The clear colourless spirit immediately
offers up rather prominent sweet peat
infused malt and vanilla. Digging deeper
there is a little ripe banana, damp
moss, orange citrus and some bonfire
smoke.
Taste:
Powerful sugary sweet peat smoke fills
the mouth, it has a slight creamy
vanilla feel to it and even at the
un-aged strength of 63.5% ABV it has a
smoothness to it, a little spiciness, an
orange and lemon citrus fruity mix.
Finish:
A medium length finish, the sweetness
quickly fades leaving a little lingering
bonfire smoke, a little orange zest and
a touch of spice.
Comment:
You just know something very good and
rather tasty is going to come of this
spirit after it spends time in some
decent oak casks. I would recommend if
you haven't tried some new make spirit
then seek some out from you favourite
whisky distilleries if you can, as it
certainly tells you were your whisky
comes from, better still grab one of
these wee tasting packs from Kilchoman.
SMW New Make
Spirit Score:
Shows great potential.
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Kilchoman Bourbon Cask 04 2016 Review
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The second step in this Kilchoman
tasting journey this 2016 vintage shows
how much character and colour the whisky
has taken on after around just five
years in a ex Bourbon Cask. Bottled at
59.7% ABV, non chill filtered and
naturally coloured.
William
Morrison's Tasting Notes:
Nose:
A gentle sweet peat smoke and some
lovely lemon citrus, a touch of
butterscotch.
Taste:
Sweet sugared peat, vanilla and
butterscotch, a touch of lemon and some
oak spice lurking in the background.
Finish:
A longish finish, an infusion of vanilla, sweet peat
and lemon citrus bow out slowly to leave
a touch of mildly drying oak.
Comment:
After around five years in a ex bourbon
barrel the spirit has been transformed,
it shows a level of maturity more than
its 5 years, just the slightest hint of
spirit but nowhere near what you would
expect at this age. The combination of
youth and peat often make for a good
whisky and this is a fantastic example
of that. a cracking young Kilchoman.
SMW Score
85/100
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Kilchoman Bourbon Cask 203 2011 Review
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The third step in this Kilchoman tasting
journey this 2011 vintage shows how much
character and colour the whisky has
taken on after 10 years in a ex Bourbon
Cask. Bottled at 53.2% ABV, non chill
filtered and naturally coloured.
William
Morrison's Tasting Notes:
Nose:
A clean, fresh
nose, a lovely balance of vanilla and enticingly gentle
sweet peat smoke, a little mild zesty
lemon.
Taste:
Just what the nose told you was coming,
a delicious gentle sweet peat infused
with equally gentle vanilla and lemon. a
lovely light oak spice.
Finish:
Long, the lemon citrus has taken on a
sugar boost and now appears a little
candied before fading out, the sweet peat
smoke and vanilla mellows out alongside
it, a little mildly
drying oak lingers on to the last.
Comment:
After 10 years in an ex bourbon cask it
has been transformed into a top quality,
delicious, peated dram with a lovely
light fresh, balanced, feel to it. Its
53.2% strength just adds to the taste
pleasure.
SMW Score
90/100
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Kilchoman Bourbon Cask 645 2006 Review
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This final step in this Kilchoman
journey is something special from one of
the very oldest casks at the distillery,
it comes from Kilchoman's very limited
2006 maturing stock, just the 14th cask
ever to be filled at Kilchoman! After
over 15 years maturing in ex Bourbon
cask 645 this has been bottled at 53.78%
ABV, non chill filtered and naturally
coloured.
William
Morrison's Tasting Notes:
Nose:
A lovely fresh clean nose
with a lovely light sweet peat smoke,
honey, a little vanilla, some lemon
citrus, a touch floral.
Taste:
A balance of brown sugared gentle peat
smoke, honey, vanilla and zesty lemon, a
lovely equally gentle spicy oak with a
slightly floral edge. Some late coffee.
Finish:
Long, the brown sugared gentle peat now
has a little coffee and floral edge, it
bows out to leave some mildly drying
oak.
Comment:
After 15 years the peat has mellowed
somewhat, it has got a little honeyed
and it has started to develop a bit of a
coffee and floral side. Another very
good Kilchoman, but had it peaked, at
least for this type of cask maturation
at 10 years old.
SMW Score
88/100
The
Kilchoman Fèis
Ìle 2021 bottling and virtual tasting
packs will only be available from the
Kilchoman website but don't hang around
or you may miss out.
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Kilchoman Fèis Ìle 2021 Tasting Packs Reviews
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