The Port Cask Matured limited edition was aged for the full term of its maturation in ruby port hogsheads. Casks were selected from two contrasting ages, the youngest being 6 years old.
The 2024 edition will be the third release of a Kilchoman Port Cask Matured limited edition. The first release in 2014, was matured for three years in fresh port casks. The second edition, released in 2018, was a combination of three and four year old casks. This, the 2024 edition, was matured in refill casks used for both of the previous two releases.
Unlike most port cask releases from other distilleries, this is not a port cask finish, the whisky has only been matured in port hogsheads. Whilst being more challenging to get right, Anthony’s full term maturation approach is something he’s committed to continuing.
“When we started Kilchoman, we always wanted to do things slightly differently, some distilleries do release full maturation bottlings, but most tend to do finishes. Full term maturation is fun because you don’t always know how it’s going to work out. We’re fortunate that the Kilchoman spirit character lends itself to bind together with experimental casks very nicely.
Port casks and Kilchoman just works, the natural citrus and sweetness of Kilchoman balance nicely with the red berries and cinnamon influence of the port casks. This latest edition, being older and refill casks, has a little more depth of character compared to past releases, I’m very pleased with how it has come together,” Anthony Wills, Kilchoman Founder.
The Port Cask Matured (70cl, 50% vol.) will be available across Europe from this week. For those further away, it’s on the way, best to contact your local stockist to make sure they keep a bottle for you when it does arrive.
Contact us by email for more information – admin@kilchomandistillery.com
To be amongst the first to hear about all our new releases click here to sign up and join the Kilchoman Club for free
The BATCH STRENGTH Tour Continues – Next Stop: USA! 🇺🇸
Having taken the Batch Strength Tour through Europe and Asia earlier this year, James is heading to the US. Starting in Massachusetts on Oct 14th he’ll be travelling through Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, DC, and Maryland, finishing on Oct 26th in Florida.
Have you tried the Batch Strength, our new colossal core range expression? Though bottles have been in the US for a month or two, the tour will mark the official launch of Batch Strength in the US.
The Batch Strength release was added to our core range earlier this year. Matured in a combination of re-charred red wine casks, oloroso sherry butts and bourbon barrels, a few drops of water were added post maturation to produce a Batch Strength of 57% vol. The result is a colossal dram combining the natural peat smoke and citrus character of Kilchoman with dark fruits, rich spices and salted caramel sweetness.
Like our bull Rory, BATCH STENGTH typifies the rugged power and intensity of Kilchoman. It possesses all the character that typifies a classic Kilchoman; fresh, vibrant peat smoke, citrus sweetness and a balance of fruit and spices. However, with the influence of re-charred red wine casks, there is an abundance of red fruits and caramel, and at 57% vol. rather than the standard 46%, it has a weight and power that makes you stand up and take notice.
On the US Batch Strength Tour we will be bringing along our special Tour Edition bottles – same delicious whisky but with a special label and carton design, available exclusively at tour stops.
Join us at an event near you. Come along and sample our latest core range release, meet James Wills, hear some behind-the-scenes stories from the distillery and of course, enjoy a few fantastic whiskies. Plus, we’re bringing a few special treats from Scotland for you to take home!
A full list of the venues we will be visiting are listed below. For more information about events, please contact office@impexbev.com
MASSACHUSETTS
14th OCTOBER – Hadley, MA – Four Seasons Wine and Liquor
15th OCTOBER: Norfolk, MA – Norfolk Wine and Spirits
RHODE ISLAND
16th OCTOBER: East Providence, RI – Town Wine & Spirits
NEW YORK
17th OCTOBER – Brooklyn, NY – Travel Bar
18th OCTOBER: Lawrenceville, NJ – Joe Canal’s
NEW JERSEY
19th OCTOBER: New Jersey – Drammers
WASHINGTON DC
20th OCTOBER: Washington DC – Jack Rose Dining Saloon
MARYLAND
21ST OCTOBER: Charlestown MD – The Retriever Bar and The Decoy Bottle Shop
PHILADELPHIA
22ND OCTOBER: Philadelphia, PA – Whisky Blasphemy at Holt’s Cigars
MARYLAND
23RD OCTOBER: Elkton, MD – State Line Liquors
FLORIDA
24th OCTOBER- Longwood, FL – Five Star Liquor & Wine
25th OCTOBER: Melbourne, FL – The Mansion Home
The first edition of Kilchoman’s Shake the Farm cocktail competition is now over and we have crowned the winner.
After holding heats in Edinburgh, Manchester, and London the winners of each heat were invited to Islay, not just for the final, but to spend 2 days at Kilchoman learning about everything we do to make our delicious Single Malt.
Kuba, Alex and Glenn spent day 1 going around the Distillery and also local landmarks that we have named our whiskies after. Their highlights included tasting Machir Bay on Machir Bay and tasting the latest 100% Islay in one of our barley fields.
The prize for the winner was to select a cask of Kilchoman that will be bottled exclusively for the UK. Robin took them into the warehouse to taste various casks and select the one to be bottled. Keep an eye out for more details of that coming soon…
The following day was the main event, the final. The judging panel included Ken, Emma and Robin. Each contestant not only had to make their cocktail, they had to explain the reasons for their choice of ingredients. Our Batch Strength was the whisky featuring in the cocktails and each contestant had to use at least one farmed or foraged British ingredient.
First up was Alex with “The Play Barn” a delightful combination of Blackberry leaf liqueur, hay soda and Batch Strength, garnished with a Blackberry leaf and fruit lollipop. Robin was a particular fan of the Lollipop!
We then had Glenn with “Eidyn” which included brown butter washed Calvados, an apple, bramble, and rhubarb infused honey syrup topped up with a rhubarb and honey soda. This was served with a side of “leftover” crumble re-using all the ingredients.
Last up was Kuba with his drink “Lil’ Love Affair” combining Batch Strength, rhubarb cordial 3 ways (fresh, stewed and fermented), Brioche liqueur and a few drops of horseradish distillate served with a slice of dehydrated rhubarb.
Ken, Emma, and Robin agreed that all three cocktails were delicious, with creative ingredients and impressive presentation. However, there could only be one winner… Alex Holmes with his drink, ‘The Play Barn.’
The cask that Alex selected was cask 932/2016 which was a bourbon cask that has been finished in Brandy for 12 months. This Cask will be bottled and exclusively available for bars and restaurants throughout the UK later this year.
Thank you to everyone that entered the competition, and congratulations to Alex and we hope you all enjoy his Single Cask when you try it.
The 100% Islay 14th Edition was distilled from our 2013 and 2014 barley harvests before being matured in selected bourbon and oloroso sherry casks for a minimum of 9 years.
This year, Anthony Wills, Kilchoman founder, has decided on a cask ratio of Bourbon 9:1 Oloroso Sherry. The combination of bourbon and sherry cask maturation has created layers of vanilla, butterscotch, and rich fruity character that balance beautifully with the natural citrus sweetness and floral peat smoke of our 100% Islay spirit.
“Our 100% Islay releases are the culmination of efforts made at each stage of the process, from sowing the barley back in 2013 and 2014, through harvesting, malting, distilling and maturation, all done on-site here at Kilchoman. This year we selected a combination of bourbon and sherry cask maturation. In my eyes, the contrasting influences create a lovely balance of richness and light floral character,”
Anthony Wills, Kilchoman Founder.
Our Distillery is situated on Rockside Farm which covers around 3,000 acres on the north-west coast of Islay. The parish of Kilchoman is home to some of Islay’s most fertile ground. It is here, in the fields surrounding the distillery, where we can grow up to 440 tonnes of barley each year for our annual 100% Islay range.
Sown each spring, once Islay’s 50,000 geese have migrated, our farm team care for the barley over the summer months before harvesting in early September. Harvest time represents the start of the whisky-making process which sees our Kilchoman grown barley malted, distilled, matured and bottled here at the distillery, eventually becoming Islay’s only Single Farm Single Malt Scotch Whisky.
The 100% Islay 14th Edition (70cl, 50% vol.) will be available from your local stockists in the UK and across the world from this week. For those of you who live in countries further away, bottles may take a few more weeks to find themselves on shelves.
Contact us by email for more information – admin@kilchomandistillery.com
To be amongst the first to hear about all our new releases click here to sign up and join the Kilchoman Club for free
We are very excited to announce that we’ll be offering a limited number of private casks exclusively to our Club Members through a ballot system which opened on Wednesday 21st August and closes at midday on Tuesday 3rd September.
If you aren’t already a Kilchoman Club Member, then you can
sign up for free here
With the exception of 15 casks auctioned in 2020 to celebrate our 15th Anniversary, our production capacity has meant offering private casks has not been possible since 2008. Our stillhouse expansion in 2019 changed that and we now have the capacity to offer Club Members the chance to purchase their own cask of Kilchoman!
A limited number of first fill ex-bourbon barrels will be made available for £5,250 per cask. These casks have been filled within the last few months with our 50ppm heavily peated spirit, the same spirit that forms the basis for our Machir Bay and Sanaig releases.
The cask ballot will open on August 21st and close at midday on September 3rd. Once the ballot closes, winners will be drawn at random and all entrants will receive an email within 48hrs confirming whether they have been successful or not.
The semi-finals of our Shake the Farm Cocktail Competition are now complete and we are all set for the finals which will take place on Islay in September.
We were overwhelmed by the incredible levels of creativity and skills that candidates showcased across the competition. Selecting only one bartender per heat to advance to the final stage was an extremely difficult task. Each contestant poured their heart and soul into creating a unique and meaningful drink, making it a delight to taste them all.
The competition rules were simple; bartenders across the UK were asked to create a drink that showcased Kilchoman Batch Strength alongside at least one British farmed or foraged ingredient. The brief resulted in an eclectic range of cocktails which was exactly what we were hoping for.
The first heat took place in Edinburgh where the bartenders each presented their cocktail creations. Tucked in Lady Libertine’s basement bar, the semi-finalists took us through the story behind their drink and explained the reasoning for their ingredient choices. A wide variety of farmed and foraged ingredients were selected, and some truly ingenious methods were devised to use them. We’ve seen all things from nettle infused vermouth to toasted oats and banana tea.
The one drink that stole the show was ‘Eidyn’ by Glenn Murray. His presentation was spotless and sprinkled with a lot of knowledge of Kilchoman. His creation was served with a side of crumble made up of all the byproducts of the cocktail ingredients, nothing was wasted.
The second heat took place in Manchester at the Whiskey Jar. Everyone who took part in this heat had travelled from outside of the city so we salute their engagement and thank them for taking the time to come along and participate.
Choosing a winner was no easy task once again. From bone-marrow infused Batch Strength to brown butter and fig cream, we were served with an array of delicious cocktails made with “out of the box” ingredients.
But Alex Holmes’s drink, ‘The Play Barn’, really took us on a sensory journey. Who would have thought that a three ingredients cocktail could be so complex and so delicious! The story behind it was linked with Alex’s past so it was a very insightful trip down memory lane. Well done!
For the last leg of the semi-finals, we headed to Swift Borough in London. Once again, we were left humbled by the levels of flair and creativity. We tasted hand-pickled strawberry brine, beetroot shrub, fig leaf and sweet woodruff soda… some of the ingredients were made with tools only scientists would normally use!
After much deliberation, the judges chose Kuba Korzynski’s drink, ‘Lil’ Love Affair’ as the winner. It was the combination of amazing ingredients used and great knowledge and presentation that made Kuba’s drink stand out.
Our finalists, Glenn, Alex and Kuba, will come to the distillery to compete in a final head-to-head cocktail making challenge to become the first ever Kilchoman Shake the Farm competition winner. The winner will then select an on-trade exclusive Single Cask which will bear their name and leave with a case of it!
If you fancy giving any of the winning cocktails a go yourself, here are the ingredients used …
Eidyn by Glenn Murray
35ml Kilchoman Batch Strength Whisky
25ml Brown Butter Avallen Calvados
25ml Apple, Bramble and Rhubarb infused Blossom Honey Syrup
70ml Rhubarb Honey SodaThe Play Barn by Alex Holmes
30ml Kilchoman Batch Strength
20ml Blackberry Leaf Liqueur
70ml Hay SodaLil’ Love Affair by Kuba Korzynski
30ml Kilchoman Batch Strength
25ml rhubarb turbo-cordial
15ml brioche liqueur
Dash wild horseradish distillate
We’d like to take this opportunity to thank the bars that hosted us during the semi-finals and also the judges, Stefanie Anderson and Kat Stanley-Whyte who really helped us with their insights and experience.
We will update you on how the final goes in September!
After a very busy start to the season and another successful Fèis Ìle behind us, we are busy focusing on plans for Summer 2024.
In addition to our usual tours, we have some special experiences to take place from July 22nd to August 19th.
The first of these is our Farm tour. This will be available to book on Mondays and Wednesdays, during that period. As a farm distillery we are very proud of our agricultural heritage and this tour will give you the chance to see the barley fields up close, visit our peat bank and explore the area that has inspired us to make our award-winning whiskies, all from the comfort of our Kilchoman Land Rover. And to make it even better you get to sample five delicious drams along the way.
The next is a Beach Tasting – a firm favourite in recent years.
Spend an hour with one of our guides on the shores of Machir Bay as we talk you through four of our core range whiskies telling you stories from the distillery while soaking up the atmosphere of one of Islay’s most beautiful beaches.
Don’t worry if you do not have time for a tour, you can try the full range of our whiskies as well as some exclusives and archive releases at our whisky bar, which is open from 10am-4.45pm and does not require a booking.
Our café is open from 12 – 3.30pm serving lunches – including our world-famous Cullen skink. We serve tea, coffee and home baking from 10am – 4.30pm.
Booking is advisable for lunch as we do get very busy and do not want to disappoint anyone. Dogs are very welcome, and we have designated tables in the café so if you are bringing your four-legged friend, please advise at time of booking so we can reserve the correct table for you.
We look forward to a busy summer, welcoming back familiar faces as well as sharing some new experiences with you all.
The visitor centre is open seven days a week.
For more information, or to book a tour, please click here
Famous all over the world for its whisky, but it’s beauty, people and wildlife are what keeps people coming back year on year. Known as “The Queen of the Hebrides”, she lives up to her title every day. From the dark, stormy & quiet winters to the bright, vibrant summer months – both equally as picturesque. There really is no place in the world quite like it, and Kilchoman is lucky to be one of the 10 distilleries currently producing whisky on this beautiful Island we call home.
Before we go any further, let’s talk pronunciation. There have been many versions over the years – “EYE-LAY”, “IS-LAY”. Neither are correct. It is pronounced “EYE-LAH” (you will earn serious brownie points with the locals if you say it right!).
Another is location. A lot of people think of the Scottish islands and assume they are all very far north, but Islay is actually the southernmost island of the Inner Hebrides. Only 23 miles across the water to Northern Ireland. It measures 240 miles squared with a population of roughly 3,500 people – with that doubling during the peak summer season. This makes it the 5th largest island in Scotland by size and 7th largest by population.
Despite being relatively small compared to the rest of the world, we produce almost 22 million litres of spirit between 10 distilleries. To complete such a task, it does mean most of Islay’s residents work in the whisky industry. If they are not directly employed by a distillery, they have been contracted to do work at the distillery, grow barley, work in a hotel for the tourists who visit, they have a small business that is supported by the visitors. I have always admired the work ethic of locals and how we bind together as a community to contribute towards not only the success of the whisky but of island as a whole.
The natural variation in Islay’s geology means it supports a range of environments from dark peat bogs and heather moorlands to luscious woodland and picturesque grasslands. The Rhinns of Islay (the area of land on Islay the distillery is situated) is made up of a rock formation dated from 3 billion years ago, helping to form Islay’s rich history with the earliest known settlers dating back to 10,800BC – one of the earliest recorded in Scotland.
Due to the islands varied geology, ecosystems and geographical affects, it allows the island to give us an extremely diverse array of flora and fauna. It is particularly famous for its birdlife with more than 200 species including everything from golden eagles, choughs, geese & corncrakes.
Despite birds being so populus, visiting Islay you may also see red deer, otters, highland cows and even the occasional snake…. if you are less lucky. Look out into the waters around the island and you could see, minke whales, seals, killer whales, basking sharks and bottle-nosed dolphins.
Rockside Farm is on the northwest of the island, about 2 miles away from the edge of the Atlantic Ocean – meaning next stop Nova Scotia! This does test us when it comes to growing barley as despite the ground being very fertile, the harsh winds from the Atlantic cover the land in a layer of salt, which can really prove difficult when trying to maximise our yields.
With that being said, when it comes to cutting peat, we love the salt filled Atlantic winds. Islay is famous for a specific type of peat smoke – oily, iodine, heavy maritime peat smoke. We cut our peat about 3 miles from the distillery so that distinct Islay character is always prominent in Kilchoman and marries beautifully with our light, floral, citrus new make spirit, making it integral to the style of whisky we aim to create.
There is no doubt that it is the whisky that brings most people to Islay, but it’s beautiful scenery with windswept beaches, rugged moorlands and beautiful coastlines are also truly encapsulating. The vast span of rare wildlife on your doorstep. The friendly people with their chatty personalities and iconic ‘Islay wave’, the sense of community and an atmosphere that is indescribable. It truly is the most unique place in the world.
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.
It’s official, we’ve made it back to Islay with our trusty pick-up, without incident this year, and happy to have made it back in time for Fèis Ìle!
The last leg of our European tour took us through the Netherlands, Belgium, England, Ireland and finally Scotland. It amounts to a total of 20 countries travelled in just over 2 months and it has been an absolute blast from start to finish. We’d like to thank you all for coming out to support us and hope you enjoyed it as much as we did.
James was joined by myself in Rotterdam for the Dutch part of the tour where we were able to showcase the Batch Strength in an array of beautiful venues, as well as some rare single casks. To top this off, the sun was shining bright and we were able to show off our tour t-shirts again (after a slightly chilly trip through Scandinavia)!
This leg took us through Rotterdam, Nijmegen, Pijnacker and finally Sluis where Peter took over from James and continued the escapades into Belgium with me.
The first stop in Belgium was Antwerp where we hosted a lovely evening masterclass and also a barrel-top tasting during the day.
We then headed to Angleur, stopping at two different shops along the way, welcomed by both new and familiar faces. At the evening masterclass, we were able to sharpen our French skills and finally indulge in some world-famous Belgium fries… they did not disappoint!
The following day, we were kept busy with three stops on our route to Mechelen, seeing a plethora of Kilchoman lovers at every pit-stop, even at 11am mid-week… Who doesn’t like ‘cereals’ for breakfast?
Peter then switched places with Catherine who finished the Belgium leg with me.
We drove through to Zottegem for a relaxed afternoon tasting and finished the day’s drive in Heule for another evening event. For our last day in Belgium, we headed towards Heuvelland for a full day of whisky shenanigans, starting with an afternoon sampling session with over 20 different Kilchoman releases, a unique chance to try some of our historical releases that was greatly appreciated by the crowd and also myself…
To finish our Belgian stint with a bang, we hosted an in-depth masterclass comparing the impact of full maturation vs finishes and 1st fill vs 2nd. It was then time to pass the torch to Emma and George after ducking back under the Channel to continue the tour.
Ken
Emma and I met up with Catherine and Ken at Gatwick Airport for a quick debrief before the tour continued.
The UK and Ireland leg of the tour took us south to Brighton before heading west to Bath. Thanks to The Whisky Shops for putting on great events. We also had a first for the tour… A parking ticket! I am just surprised we managed to avoid one until the final week.
Next stop was Manchester, and it soon came apparent that the traffic in England was some of the worst we had experienced, but it was nice to be driving on the right (left) side of the road.
Wednesday morning started a little earlier than planned with a ferry cancellation resulting in a 5.45am dash to catch the first boat to Dublin. It was not all bad as we were greeted in Dublin with a nice pint of Guinness on a rare night off. The next day was spent at the Celtic Whisk(e)y Shop and then a fun filled evening in the Flowing Tide Pub for an evening tasting.
KWM Wines in Kilkeel, Northern Ireland, was next on the list. An amazing shop that had a wide selection of Kilchoman on offer. The crowd that evening included many Kilchoman first timers who enjoyed an informal tasting in the shop.
It was a slightly more sociable hour for our ferry back to Scotland and a visit to our friends at Robbie’s Drams in Ayr. A great way to kick off the Scottish leg, a packed 11am tasting. The final few days of the tour were spent in Glasgow, Edinburgh and then Inverary, before George and the pick up made it back to the distillery (without picking up any more parking tickets). It was nice to finish this year’s tour in the same vehicle we started in for once!
Thank you to all the shops, bars and distributors that welcomed us all and made sure that our Batch Strength European Tour was a huge success.
George
