It is another busy time on our farm. Spring is here and Islay has been seeing some good weather recently so this week we’ve taken advantage of the weather window and have been busy sowing the barley seed which will be harvested in late summer and used to produce our 100% Islay spirit.
Similar to previous years we are planting two varieties of barley, this year it will be one familiar variety, Concerto, which has been the backbone of our barley crop over recent years and one new variety, Diablo, which we’ve not grown on the farm before.
A couple of weeks ago we took delivery of the Concerto seed which is one of our mainstay varieties that we’ve been using over the years as we’ve found it to be one of the best performers in terms of yield, it seems to suit our ground and stands up well against the challenging Islay weather. Most importantly, the new make spirit from Concerto is fantastically floral and balances well with the other aspects that influence the character of our whisky such as peat, stills, yeast and of course casks.
This year our second variety of barley is LG Diablo and we are trialling this to see how it crops and compares to Concerto. LG Diablo, Diablo meaning Devil in Spanish, is advertised with the slogan ‘yields like hell’ so we’re obviously hoping this is true for us! It is a relatively new variety, but it seems to have good characteristics that we hope will suit our ground and the weather on Islay which is more than interesting at times…………
We will keep you up to date with progress over the coming months.
Due to popular demand, we have organised another online tasting event which you can take part in from home on Friday 10th April 6pm (UK time).
In this Tasting Pack there is a mixture of a new release, a pre release and cask samples to get stuck into as Anthony and James discuss all things Kilchoman.
* Fino Cask – 59%abv
* Am Burach Sample – 46%abv
* 100% Islay Bourbon Barrel – 55.3%abv
* Loch Gorm – 46%abv
The New Make ‘Sanitiser’ is a little extra thrown into the pack for you, at over 60%abv the spirit running from our stills can act as a hand sanitiser to kill off the germs pre tasting.
coming out in 2020.
With the 2020 Preview Tasting Pack you can taste along with your Kilchoman Glencairn glass as Anthony and James Wills preview the 4 limited edition releases coming out in 2020. Even if you didn’t manage to get a tasting pack, please still pour yourself a dram, join us and interact with the guys in the comments section during the tasting. Feel free to also ask any and all questions you want!
Loch Gorm is the name given to our annually released sherry cask matured limited edition. The loch, murky and peaty in colour, reflects the dark copper tones of the sherry matured Loch Gorm release.
As the only release in the Kilchoman range to be fully matured in sherry casks, Loch Gorm has always attracted special attention from Kilchoman followers, especially given that just 15,500 bottles will be released.
The 2020 edition is made up of 21 oloroso sherry butts filled in 2007, 2008, 2009 and 2011, bottled at 46% abv without any chill filtration and colouring. The 15,500 bottles released will be available from retailers in the UK and Europe from the 6th of April, reaching more distant markets soon after.
“The peat smoke and citrus sweetness of the Kilchoman spirit pairs beautifully with the rich influence of these oloroso sherry casks.
Overall there are a lot of similarities between the 2019 and 2020 expressions however the 2020 bottling is much more fruit forward, there’s a bit less of the dry sherry influence and more dried fruits and cinnamon sweetness” Anthony Wills, Kilchoman Founder and Managing Director
The Loch Gorm 2020 will retail for £69.90 in the UK (70cl, 46% abv), a limited number of bottles will be available via our website from 2pm on Monday April 6th however these will be restricted to one bottle per person. If you miss out on a bottle when they’re released online then do not fear, bottles are currently on the way to whisky shops around the world.
EXCITING ANNOUNCEMENT – Introducing ‘The Lockdown Whisky Festival’ brought to you live at home!
Join us, and 11 other fantastic whisky producers, from the comfort of your own home on Saturday 4th April 2-5pm (UK time) for a live virtual whisky festival on Youtube.
featuring 12 different whisky producers
The festival will be hosted by Roy Duff @aqvavitae who will lead Q&A sessions with each brand participating so get your questions ready and we’ll see you live next Saturday.
Set your reminder here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1HXoLCGm6e0
Tune in for another Instagram live Friday 27th March at 6pm UK time. (Please note this is separate from the tasting packs that went on sale earlier this week, they are for the live tasting on Friday 3rd April).
Join Anthony and James as they talk you through 3 different Kilchoman expressions of 3 different ages….
– Spring Release 2011 (3 years old)
– 2010 Vintage (9 years old)
– Distillery Shop Exclusive Sherry Cask (11 years old)
Best not mention the ages of James and Anthony!!
It’s not often we offer the chance to get your hands on a bottle of our Distillery Shop Exclusive but with travel limited and the distillery shop closed, there’s only one way to get your hands on this Exclusive Single Cask… Trying your luck on our NFC labels!
Get hold of our core range Machir Bay or Sanaig bottles and on the back label you will find our logo to tap and enter the competition. The winner will be announced on Monday 13th April.
Android + iPhone Simply tap the logo on the bottle back label. For iPhone 7, 8 and X – Download the App and tap the bottle back label. Search on the App Store ‘Discover Kilchoman’.
Kilchoman Distillery Shop Exclusive
Age – 11 Years Old
Cask Number – 423/2007
Cask Type – Oloroso Sherry Butt
Strength – 54%
Bottles – 633
Exciting Announcement! Friday Night In With Anthony Wills….. Anthony Wills, Founder and MD at Kilchoman, will be live on Instagram for your Friday night entertainment!
From 6pm (UK time) on Friday 20th March, Anthony will be talking about the recent expansion at Kilchoman and what else is new at the distillery, as well as tasting through our core range of whiskies – Machir Bay, Sanaig, 100% Islay and a sneak peak of the upcoming Loch Gorm 2020 release.
If you have any of these releases in your whisky collection then crack open the cork and taste along as Anthony samples through the range, giving his insight on the ethos and blending of each one.
Feel free to ask him all the questions you want answered on Kilchoman and our Single Malts.
Go to our Instagram account to access the live event @kilchomanwhisky
We regret to announce that, due to the Covid-19 virus, Feis Ile 2020 has been cancelled. We are truly sorry for the disappointment and inconvenience that this causes, but the health and wellbeing of our staff, visitors and neighbours is our main priority at this time. The good news is, we will still do a Feis bottling this year! We will update you soon with more information. Keep safe and best wishes to you all.
Following a meeting between all distilleries on Islay & Jura, we have decided to close the distillery as a preventative measure against Coronavirus.
Kilchoman Distillery will close from 5pm Tuesday 17th March until further notice. We are deeply saddened that the situation has come to this point but the health and safety of everyone is of the utmost priority to us.
We will continue to keep you updated through our social media platforms. If you have any queries please contact us by telephone +44(0)1496 850 011 or email tours@kilchomandistillery.com
At the moment we have no specific information regarding The Islay Festival 2020. More information will follow.
KilchArd edition 1 was officially launched by ‘Bruce Wills’ at Whisky Galore’s DramFest in New Zealand last weekend. The idea was simple- two distilleries, two casks. Now we have a blended malt scotch whisky featuring a PX sherry cask from Ardnamurchan Distillery and a bourbon barrel from Kilchoman Distillery for this limited first edition of KilchArd.
Reeling from a busy Saturday at the London Whisky Show, Messers Wills (Kilchoman) and Bruce (Ardnamurchan) retired with friends and family for refreshments. Plans were hatched for a collaborative Hebridean blend of whisky and name. Samples were drawn, alchemy achieved, one cask from each distillery selected for this first edition of KilchArd. (Who knew Anthony and Bruce were such fans of the Die Hard movies!)
aka “Bruce Wills”
There are only 686 bottles released and they’re available to buy from our distillery shop, Ardnamurchan Distillery shop, Royal Mile Whiskies, Master of Malt and The Whisky Exchange.
“The odds of making a decent whisky are limited. That’s how we like it,” said Anthony Wills, Kilchoman and Alex Bruce, Ardnamurchan.
