The Governor of the Bank of England, Sir Mervyn King, visited Islay on his farewell tour before retiring and met with a number of distillery representatives, including Anthony Wills (4th from left), at Ardbeg for lunch and tasting.
A great review on this years Feis Ile by Jon Bryant, Living Room Whisky.
‘We really enjoyed our tour with John at the distillery during the Feis week. I’ve met him a couple of times previously but it was really good to see him in his home distillery and to see his enthusiasm as he showed us around. It was our favourite tour of the week.’
http://www.livingroomwhisky.com/whisky/feis-ile-2013-day-five/
The distillery is now back into it’s normal routine after the Feis Ile! The bottling hall is at full throttle and the malt is germinating on the malt floor again..
On the 30th of May was our big day and it was a great success with the Islay weather shining on us! The bar kept everyone refreshed throughout the day along with a bbq, band, tastings and food pairings.
The Feis Ile bottling was certainly popular this year with the queue (below) extending out to the still house.
Look forward to seeing you all back at Kilchoman next year for another celebration!
There are still places avaiable in our ‘Still Skills’ Production Master Classes with Tony, Robin and Michael – The production team.
‘Still Skills’ will take place at 12.00am and 3.00pm on the 30th May, £20 per person. Max 12 people.
Book now to avoid dissapointment! To make a reservation please call 01496 850011 or email rebecca.woodrow@kilchomandistillery.com.
If you are making the trip to Islay this month but for some disastrous reason you can’t make it to us at the distillery then why not pop into the Bridgend Hotel for a taste of our recent Loch Gorm release where it is Malt of The Month. This is the first release of Loch Gorm which is matured exclusively in sherry casks.
We are doing a special bottling as sponsorship for the Islay Pipe Band
This bottling is a Fresh Bourbon cask 461 of 2008, bottled at 60.4% ABV.
These bottles are available from the DISTILLERY ONLY from Monday the 20th May and throughout Feis week. Please note payment for these bottles is to be by cash or cheque only. Bottles will be £75.
This bottling will be labelled with some details of the distillery and the Pipe Band with tasting notes by Distillery Manager John MacLellan. It is a unique bottle and should be very collectable.
Andrew and John have chosen the cask and it is ready for bottling. Andrew works at Kilchoman and is a member of the Islay Pipe Band
This years Feis Ile bottling will be a vatting of two consecutive 5year old Fresh Bourbon Casks 246 /247 of 2008 bottled at 60.1% ABV , there will be slightly over 500 bottles available. Feis bottles will be limited to one per person and will be £79.50. Bottles will be on sale from the DISTILLERY ONLY at 10am on Thursday 30th May.
The guys were sampling various casks today and have chosen these two bourbon barrels from the warehouse.
Another great review by Buffalo Whisky Guild! They have recently tasted and reviewed our Award Winning Machir Bay…
https://buffalowhiskeyguild.wordpress.com/2013/05/06/kilchoman-machir-bay/
Our second warehouse is finally nearing completion! After many months of building and the inevitable delays due to some windy weather on Islay we are almost ready to load up the warehouse with casks. The roof and walls are being fitted at the moment and it should not be long now..
Machir Bay wins Whisky of the Year and Anthony named Master Distiller of the Year
We are very proud to announce that Machir Bay 2012 has been awarded the highest score of the entire competition, following a blind-tasting of over 50 whiskies by an expert panel.
Anthony Wills, Kilchoman Founder and Managing Director was also recognised at the awards, winning the title ofMaster Distiller of the Year. As a new category this year, judges unanimously agreed Anthony and the Kilchoman team deservedthe recognition not only for producing a superior Single Malt, but also to further highlight that Kilchoman has only been distilling whisky since 2005.
Sylvain Allard, managing director of the International Whisky Competition,said: “Machir Bay and Kilchoman Distillery are worthy winners in this year’s IWC. To have such a young whisky receive the highest score is unprecedented.
“Compared with the bigger brands’ younger releases, it’s a significant accomplishment that Kilchoman has only been bottling Single Malt Whisky since 2008 on a mirco-distillery.”
Anthony said: “We’re honoured to receive recognition at the IWC for both Machir Bay and the distillery overall.
“We launched the Machir Bay as our core range last year and have been thrilled by the response from experts and our customers. We practice a very strict wood policy regime at Kilchoman which is crucial in our ability to produce such a high-quality young Single Malt.”
Machir Bay 2013, this year’s evolution of the 2012 version was launched inMarch and is a vatting of four and five year old ex-bourbon casks, with the four-year casks being finished in Oloroso sherry butts for four weeks prior to bottling.Bottled once a year, each year’s Machir Bay release contains more mature casks allowing Kilchoman fans to follow the development of the unique malt as it matures. Machir Bay also won the prestigious IWSC 2012 Gold Medal – Best in Class.
