Award Season 2024 Is Underway

The 2024 Awards season is well underway, and we are extremely pleased to announce that Kilchoman has been doing very well. All three of our core range whiskies have taken home a prize at The Spirits Business Scotch Whisky Masters (2024) in the ‘Single Malt up to 12 years’ category. Our Machir Bay was presented with a gold award and both our Sanaig and our new core range edition, Batch Strength, received the highest accolade in the same competition, the Master award. All of us at the distillery are extremely proud and honoured with these results.

Machir Bay was our first ever core range whisky, released back in 2012. It has naturally evolved over the years but still remains true to its distinctive Kilchoman character. Machir Bay gets it name from the picturesque beach, only a short distance from the distillery. We create it using 50ppm malted barley and mature it in both Bourbon barrels and Oloroso Sherry casks in our on-site warehouses. It is a vatting of 90% bourbon barrels and 10% Sherry casks that we bottle as a NAS (non-age-statement) at 46%ABV. Machir Bay represents a classic Kilchoman style; rich citrus fruit, balanced with lingering crisp Islay peat smoke.

Sanaig was introduced later to the portfolio in 2014 and since launching it has brought a fresh perspective to the classic style of Kilchoman. Named after a small rocky inlet a couple of miles from the distillery, Sanaig is also a vatting of both Bourbon barrels and Oloroso Sherry casks. The majority of its production follows the exact same method as Machir Bay; same ABV, age, peating level and cask types. The difference in the two whiskies comes right at the very end of the process when they are vatted. Sanaig showcases a greater influence from the Sherry casks with 70% and the other 30% being Bourbon barrels. The high percentage of oloroso sherry influence adds a balance of dried fruits and spices to the classic Kilchoman citrus sweetness and peat smoke character.

Batch Strength is the most recent addition to our core range, having only been released this year. It has long been our desire to create something with a higher ABV than Machir Bay and Sanaig to amplify the power and showcase the depth of flavour from Kilchoman. Similar to our other core range whiskies, there are both bourbon barrels and oloroso sherry casks in the vatting, however, the Batch Strength contains 20% re-charred Portuguese red wine casks, creating a unique and distinctive character with sweet dark fruits, rich spices and salted caramel. All of this is amplified with the bottling strength of 57%ABV, producing a bold and powerful whisky.

Thank you to all the Kilchoman fans for their continued support which allows us to be in a position to win these awards. All three of these whiskies can be found in shops and bars around the world. For more info on where to find your nearest retailer, please get in touch with admin@kilchomandistillery.com.

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