The Feis Ile is almost upon us and Islay is filling up fast! Our Open Day is on Thursday 28th May and hope to see you all there to celebrate 10 years of Kilchoman!
The Feis Ile 2015 release is a vatting of 3 fresh bourbon barrels at 7 years of age, the oldest release bottled so far. There are 742 individually numbered bottles at 58.2%abv.
This release will be available on the Open Day from the distillery so get yourself over to Kilchoman and have a drink, burger, listen to some music and grab a Feis Ile bottle!
The price is £78.60 and limited to 1 bottle per person
As many of you know 2015 is our 10th Anniversary year, we in fact opened the visitor centre doors to the public at Feis Ile 2005 although we didn’t produce any spirit until early December. To celebrate the 10th Anniversary year we have created a special 10th anniversary release to mark the occasion!
The 10th anniversary release is a vatting of sherry and bourbon casks filled between 2005 and 2012 and includes whisky from Cask Number 01/2005, the first cask ever filled at Kilchoman. This limited edition is just 3,000 bottles at cask strength (58.2%abv). Bottles are all individually hand numbered and will be available from Saturday 23rd.
This will be on sale from the distillery shop only and not online. The price will be £88.80.
*maximum 2 bottles per person
We are very proud to have sponsored the Islay Pipe Band since 2012, the band has been hugely successful over the years and are a fantastic advertisement for Islay. In the past few years our sponsorship has taken the form of a cask of whisky selected by John MacLellan, bottled and sold from the distillery with all the proceeds going to the Pipe Band. This year’s Islay Pipe Band single cask is a bourbon barrel filled in 2010 and finished a Pedro Ximenez sherry cask for 2 months prior to bottling. Due to the nature of the bottling we are only able to accept cash payments at the distillery shop. The release will available from Monday the 18th of May.
On the Monday May 4th we released the 5th Editon of our 100% Islay range. The 5th Edition release is a vatting of ex bourbon barrels filled in 2009 and 2010. First released in 2010, the 100% Islay range is only lightly peated compared to the Machir Bay and Loch Gorm.
Anthony, Kilchoman Founder; ‘There is a clear difference between the 100% Islay range and other releases, the lighter peating level and maturation exclusively in ex-bourbon barrels gives the whisky a beautiful fragrance and balance’
‘When we first set out to build Kilchoman the ambition was to produce a single malt from barley grown on the distillery farm to give complete control and traceability, we also wanted to echo how whisky was once made on Islay and across Scotland. We are incredibly proud to continue these traditional practices.’
‘We expect that followers of Kilchoman will enjoy this latest Edition of the 100% Islay, the added maturation time compared to previous releases has given the whisky added depth and balance, we expect it to be a hit’
We hope you all enjoy the latest edition, we look forward to hearing your feedback when we see you!
Spring has sprung on Islay after a period of pretty horrible weather. With spring comes the annual planting of our barley. It has now been sown and all being well (fingers crossed the good weather continues) come August we will be harvesting, drying and storing it ready for malting and distilling in 2016. The 100 tonnes we harvest each year is used exclusively to produce our 100% Islay release, the latest edition of which will be launched on Monday.
Growing, malting and distilling barley on Islay has its own unique challenges, not least the weather (it doesn’t always look like this!). That said these unique conditions create a truly distinctive single malt as a result, making all the extra work well worth the effort!
Feis Ile May 2015
Our 10th Anniversary Year
Please note that all bookings must be made over the phone
Monday 25th FULL
Manager’s Tour with Anthony Wills 2pm
An in depth tour of the distillery with the founder himself, finishing in our new tasting room where you can experience some of our early releases and cask samples.
(12 places available)
£30 (non refundable deposit of £10 payable on booking)
Tuesday 26th and Wednesday 27th
Manager’s Tours 2pm FULL
An in depth tour of the distillery with a member of the Wills family, finishing in our new tasting room where you can experience some of our early releases and cask samples.
(12 places available)
£30 (non refundable deposit of £10 payable on booking)
Wednesday 27th FULL
10th Anniversary Warehouse Masterclass 5pm
An extremely rare opportunity to visit our warehouse overlooking the Loch Indaal at Conisby, and taste unique cask samples dating back to our early days.
(60 places available)
£40 (non refundable deposit of £15 payable on booking)
Monday Tuesday Wednesday & Friday
Distillery Tours at 10am & 3.30pm*
*3.30pm not available on Friday 29th
£6
Booking advisable
10th Anniversary T Shirts, caps & miniatures available throughout the week
Thursday 28th May
Kilchoman Open Day
Anthony Wills 10th Anniversary Masterclass 12pm FULL
A masterclass with the founder himself, Anthony Wills, with the opportunity to taste a wide range of cask samples from the early days and hear all about life at Kilchoman over the last 10 years from the man who started it all.
(30 places available)
£30 (non refundable deposit of £10 payable on booking)
Club Members’ Masterclass 2pm FULL
A masterclass for Kilchoman Club Members only, with the opportunity to taste some of our first releases, all no longer available.
(30 places available)
£30 (non refundable deposit of £10 payable on booking)
Be A Bottler 10.30am, 3.30pm & 4.15pm FULL
Join our bottling team and experience the time and care that goes into every bottle of Kilchoman. Fill and label your own bottle of Machir Bay using our hands-on approach, and get it authenticated and signed by Anthony Wills.
(12 places available)
£50 (non refundable deposit of £15 payable on booking)
Inaugural Release Prize Draw 4pm
Tickets available on the day itself at £2 each, with the winner being drawn on the malt floor.
Still House Visits
Throughout the day there’s the opportunity to visit the stillhouse to chat to our production team and get up close whilst our new make spirit is being made.
(12 people – no pre-booking required & no charge)
Tutored Range Tastings
Taste through the range of Kilchoman expressions, including the Feis Ile 2015, with a member of the Wills family. Available throughout the day.
£7 (no pre-booking required)
Live Music from Skipinnish, Trail West & Islay Pipe Band 12-5pm
In just a matter of hours, we will be releasing our Programme of Events for this year’s Feis Ile. From 9am on Monday morning, you will see all the details of what will be happening that week in May and we will be taking bookings over the phone (only) on a first come, first served basis. Call us on +441496850011.
Our first release of the year is the latest edition of Loch Gorm.
Loch Gorm 2015 has been bottled and only a limited amount of this release is available. This is the third annual Loch Gorm to be released and each release is differentiated by the distillation and bottling dates on the front of the bottle and gift carton.
The Loch Gorm releases are traditionally matured in ex Oloroso sherry butts and this latest edition is no exception. Where the 2015 version differs from the previous year is the use of sherry hogsheads to mature a portion of the whisky rather than just sherry butts. This edition will also be marginally older than the five year old 2014 version, it being bottled from casks filled in both 2009 and 2010.
Kilchoman founder Anthony Wills said: “As well as this year’s release being slightly older, we decided to increase the ratio of single malt matured in smaller sherry hogsheads versus that matured in larger sherry butts. This increases the influence from the sherry casks and gives the whisky a striking intensity and richness. That said, the whisky retains the balance and complexity Kilchoman releases are well-known for.”
We’re delighted to be celebrating our 10th Anniversary this year during the Feis Ile in May, and can confirm that details of all events will released at the end of this month.
Tickets will go on sale on Monday 30th March at 9am and are available over the phone only, on a first come first served basis.
Keep an eye out for the programme!
Today we took delivery of 80 Sherry Butts which we will be filling in the next few weeks/months. They have travelled directly from Jerez in Spain where they were used to mature Oloroso sherry. We use these casks to accent Kilchoman whisky with the sherry flavours held within the wood. When the Oloroso sherry is emptied from the casks for bottling we buy the casks and ship them to Islay to fill with Kilchoman spirit. During whisky maturation the casks expand and contract releasing the rich, dark Oloroso sherry character previously absorbed into the wood back into the maturing whisky.
Our sherry cask matured ‘Loch Gorm’ limited edition is all matured in this way giving it a fantastic rich, smokey and fruity character. The real skill is getting the perfect balance between the flavour from the Kilchoman spirit and the influence from maturing the whisky in a sherry casks. This years Loch Gorm release will be available soon… stay tuned for more info in the next few weeks!
