Whisky Review: Kilchoman 100% Islay 7th Edition

As with the 6th Edition, the 7th continued the climb in age while maintaining the same vintage source. Let's find out what another year in the cask does for this spirit.

This whisky was distilled in 2010 from 20 PPM floor malt, filled into fresh and refill ex-bourbon casks, then bottled in 2017 at 50% without coloring or chill filtration.

I purchased this sample from Whiskysite, but full bottles are still available from Dramtime.

Kilchoman 100% Islay 7th Edition

Nose: very subdued dry peat smoke, rather herbal, dry malt, canola with a touch of olive oil, dried flowers, dried fruits, savory, Pixie Stix. After adding a few drops of water the peat comes more into focus, the oily notes become creamier, a strong vanilla note comes in, the oak becomes baking spices, and the herbal/floral notes are joined by dried fruits.

Taste: sweet malt and oats with oak in the background up front, mixed fruit in the middle, fades into drier malt with cold peat smoke, dried herbs, and mild oak tannins. After dilution there's a savory note that rides through the palate and blends with the fruit in the middle, plus the peat becomes less smoky and more herbal.

Finish: smoky/mossy peat, dry malt, oats, mild oak, dried flowers

Wow, the peat is really mild here. I'm not sure if that's because these casks were older or just a matter of which ones were picked, but this is a radical contrast from the 5th and 6th Editions. If the 5th Edition was Bowmore, this is drifting into Kilkerran/Tobermory territory.

Water really helps, to the point where I wonder if this would have been better off bottled at 46-48%. A little dilution brings the peat out and somehow manages to increase its complexity, which is not what I usually expect. It's almost enough to make me want more, but I'm not sure I could choose this over the exuberance of the 5th Edition.

Either way, if you're coming into this, I think you'll get the most enjoyment by properly calibrating your expectations. This is a long way from being a smoke bomb like some of their PE releases, but it seems like time is finally giving instead of just taking away.

Whisky Review: Kilchoman 100% Islay 6th Edition

The 6th Edition of Kilchoman's 100% Islay series continued the upward trend in age, much like Kilkerran's WIP releases. From what I can gather it was also a true vintage release, with all of the spirit distilled in the same year, whereas the 5th and subsequent releases have been mixes of vintages as the distillery had a wider variety of stock to draw from.

This whisky was distilled from 20 PPM floor malt in 2010, aged in fresh and refill ex-bourbon casks, then bottled in 2016 at 50% ABV without coloring or chill filtration.

I purchased this sample from Dramtime, which still has the full bottle.

Kilchoman 100% Islay 6th Edition

Nose: fresh malt, new make, vegetal peat (closer in character to PE malt), plastic, mint, black pepper, wood-y baking spices. After adding a few drops of water the peat comes into focus and some floral notes come out but it becomes more youthful and a lot less complex.

Taste: malt sweetness up front, herbal and vaguely fruity around the middle, the vegetal peat with strong floral notes bursting out at the back alongside some stone fruit in the background. After dilution the flavors are generally amplified, the peat spreads out, a savory note emerges, and whatever heat there was disappears.

Finish: floral malt, fresh vegetal peat, earthy

Compared to the 5th Edition this feels both simpler and less mature. While it's reasonably competent and I got some good floral flavors, that was pretty much the only thing that caught my attention. The aromas definitely got better with time and the flavors improved with water, but they didn't have the kind of balance I was looking for. So while I wouldn't refuse a bottle of this, I also don't feel any need to seek out more.

Whisky Review: Kilchoman 100% Islay 5th Edition

Kilchoman is one of the very few distilleries releasing these kinds of hyper-local whiskies. In their case it really does mean what it says - all of the barley is grown on Islay, they malt it themselves with Islay peat, and the distillation, maturation, and bottling all happen on Islay.

I tried the 3rd Release while I was at the distillery and wasn't particularly impressed, though I was also dealing with food poisoning that day so I doubt my palate was in the best shape. The reviews I read were similarly negative, so I more or less gave the lineup a miss until I was able to find them as samples.

This whisky was distilled in 2009 from 20 PPM floor malt, filled into ex-bourbon casks, then bottled in 2015 at 50% ABV without coloring or chill filtration.

I purchased this sample from Dramtime, who still have full bottles if not samples.

Kilchoman 100% Islay 5th Edition

Nose: a very pleasant level of smoke - more on the tarry/woody end of the spectrum but also some fresh/rotting vegetation, candied malt and maize, orange creamsicle, rather floral (roses, violets), earthy/chocolate/coffee. After adding a few drops of water the peat become softer and smokier, the flowers are on fire, some caramel comes out, and the malt is fresher and drier.

Taste: fairly hot throughout, malt and maize sweetness up front, quickly joined by robust peat smoke, berry top notes and an oily/oak-y thickness in the middle that fades towards the back, lightly floral, and then a dash of oak tannins at the back to give it a bittersweet lead up to the finish. After dilution the sweetness and smoke spread out to give a more consistent profile across the sip, some caramel comes out, and there's also a bigger floral bump at the back.

Finish: fresh malt, pleasant tarry peat smoke, a nice level of oak, berry compote residue

This is honestly a rather Bowmore-ish Kilchoman. It feels like they finally managed to tame the youthfulness of their earlier releases, so the lower PPM shifts it away from the comparisons with south coast Islay distilleries of their Port Ellen malt whiskies.

In keeping with that analogy, this reminds me a lot of Bowmore Tempest. Kind of hot, not the most complex, but what's there is quite good. The price point seems justified if only because there is so much more labor going into these releases, but I would still hesitate a bit. They're fairly reasonable within the context of the Kilchoman lineup, especially compared to their single casks, but I don't know if I could pull the trigger. However, if you're a more serious Kilchoman fan than I am, I don't think you'll be disappointed by this.

Whisky Review: Kilchoman Loch Gorm 2015 Release

Loch Gorm is the third member of Kilchoman's standard lineup. It was brought in to rotation in 2013, replacing the more generically named Sherry Cask Release. As that suggests, this is the version aged entirely in ex-sherry casks, both butts and hogsheads.

As with all Kilchoman's standard releases, this is bottled at 46% without coloring or chill filtration. The whisky was distilled in 2010 and bottled in 2015.

I purchased this sample from WhiskySite.nl

Kilchoman Loch Gorm 2015 Release

Nose: rich but not overwhelming sherry, clean malt, gingerbread, dry mossy peat smoke, fresh ground coffee, vanilla, American oak, seashells/minerals, a little salinity. After adding a few drops of water it loses most of its intensity, leaving mostly soft sherry and peat, though some of it reemerges alongside savory and lemon notes with time.

Taste: fairly sweet up front with some heat that carries through, fades through oxidized bittersweet sherry into light American oak and peat at the back. After dilution it gains some intensity but with less heat - the sherry expands towards the front and becomes brighter, the peat at the back is stronger and lingers longer.

Finish: a little hot, oak, fresh peat, coffee, Robitussin overtones, doesn't linger very long

This is a bit more like it. Despite being aged exclusively in sherry casks, I find that element better integrated here than in Sanaig. Importantly the peat smoke is also more present, which helps to give the whisky a better balance.

With that said, the aromas are clearly the star of the show at full strength. They have great intensity and a respectable amount of complexity. The flavors and finish are more than a bit of a letdown in comparison. I couldn't find much complexity and the finish just gave up. I was also surprised by the heat, despite the not especially high bottling proof. That may be down to the young-ish spirit going into this compared to Machir Bay, but without any definite explanation of how they're composed, that's just conjecture.

Water largely flips that relationship, though it doesn't bring much more complexity to the flavors.

Overall this reinforce my sense that Machir Bay is the only Kilchoman that can be described as a good value. Others might be better, but given how much more you'll pay for them I can't in good faith recommend spending your money when there's so much quality to be had from their entry-level whisky. Hopefully someday they'll be able to have range where everything justifies its price point, but we're not there right now. I wouldn't say no if someone gave me a bottle... but I won't be spending my own money on it.

Whisky Review: Kilchoman Sanaig

While Kilchoman's Machir Bay has been holding down their standard lineup for some years now, it has gained some company more recently. Sanaig is roughly the mirror image of Machir Bay - while the latter is built from a 80/20 bourbon:sherry mix, Sanaig is built from a 30/70 bourbon: sherry mix. This lets the sherry shine without completely leaving out the bourbon cask component.

As with all of Kilchoman's entry level malts, this is made from Port Ellen malt and bottled at 46% without coloring or chill filtration.

I purchased this sample from Dramtime.

From Kilchoman Distillery

Kilchoman Sanaig

Nose: somewhat closed initially - light dry peat smoke, smoked fish, oxidized sherry, Hawaiian Punch, muddled malt and floral notes, baking spices. After adding a few drops of water the sherry becomes brighter and a little nutty, some more oak comes out, and the peat becomes stronger.

Taste: heavily sherried but not particularly sweet up front, relatively flat with floral overtones until a small bump of peat at the back. After dilution it remains very flat and moderately sherried while the peat disappears until the finish

Finish: savory sherry residue, floral overtones, oak tannins, a little peat

Meh. I can see what they were trying to accomplish here, but it feels like too much has been taken away from the spirit without the casks adding much in the way of extra complexity for me to get excited about it. If anything it the mix of floral notes, sherry, and light peat reads like an appeal to Bowmore fans. The nose is the best part and is engaging if soft, but the flavors are just too flat without any of the fire I expect from Kilchoman. If they were primarily using refill rather than first fill sherry casks I can imagine this working, both in terms of the sherry having a lighter touch and potentially less oak impact. I'll happily drink Machir Bay instead, which is cheaper to boot.

Whisky Review: Kilchoman Machir Bay Revisited

Kilchoman remains Islay's youngest active distillery, despite the numerous proposed new distilleries being built on the island. While they began their releases with a series of seasonal releases that charted the development of their spirit, that changed when Machir Bay became their first regular release. It was initially composed entirely from ex-bourbon cask whisky that was five years old or less, with a small proportion finished in ex-sherry casks. More recently they have stopped stating the age of the components and the exact treatments they get, but it is made from 80% ex-bourbon casks and 20% ex-sherry casks. While they have whisky that is over ten years old now, it is likely that what goes into this release remains largely or entirely younger than that.

As with all of Kilchoman's entry level malts, this is of indeterminate age and was bottled at 46% without coloring or chill filtration.

I purchased this miniature locally

Kilchoman Machir Bay

Nose: dry peat smoke, cigarette ash, incense, young/fresh malt, brown sugar, a touch of sherry, floral heather and violets, light American oak, seashore in the background. After adding a few drops of water it becomes softer with less ashy peat, the sherry largely retreats, and the floral notes mostly disappear.

Taste: mildly sweet malt with a touch of sherry up front, becomes bittersweet with oak tannins and rising peat smoke in the middle, some alcohol heat at the back. After dilution the peat gets stronger and moves forward on the palate, the sherry sweetness is stronger and extends further back, some seashore notes comes out around the middle, and the oak tannins mostly disappear going into the finish.

Finish: oak tannins, dry peat, sweet malt, sherry residue

Hey, that's pretty good. There was less cured meat on the nose and the peat was better integrated on the palate in this version compared to the first edition I tried, but otherwise it felt pretty consistent. I suspect that some of this is that Kilchoman now has older stock to blend into this release, so it comes off as less fiery than the version that was composed from 95% whiskies that were four years old or less.

Overall, I think this remains the standard by which all other Kilchoman releases are measured, much like Ardbeg's 10 Year is for that distillery. And as with them, the question Machir Bay always raises is whether the more expensive releases are enough better to justify their price tags.

Whisky Review: Kilchoman Single Cask #74 for K&L Wines

As part of their single cask program, K&L Wines brought in a clutch of casks from Kilchoman. While the sherried one sold out fairly quickly, four ex-bourbon casks - two made from Port Ellen malt and two made from the distillery's own floor malt - languished on shelves and in their warehouse.

Some months ago Michael Kravitz proposed splitting one of those casks, #74, as the best of the bunch. At $20 for a quarter of a bottle, it wasn't a major investment, but still gave me enough whisky to get a good sense of its character.

This is whisky made from Port Ellen malt distilled at Kilchoman on February 22, 2008, matured in an ex-bourbon cask, then bottled on December 16, 2013 at 58.4% without coloring or chill filtration.

Reviews have been posted simultaneously at Diving for Pearls and My Annoying Opinions.

Kilchoman Single Cask #74

Nose: inky, coal dust, dense peat smoke, rich polished oak, dry malt with a roasted edge by the seashore, berry fruit leather, raisins, cooling tar in the background, fresh cut grass, heather. After adding a few drops of water, oak is significantly toned down and the peat is joined by smoldering cinnamon bark, giving it an incense-like quality, and some ham and sweet vanilla notes come out.

Taste:big cask strength sweetness on top of a thick layer of oak, cinnamon buried in the wood, berries, raisins, and fruit esters around the middle, inky peat becoming more mossy right at the back. After dilution, the basic elements are retained but softened a hair, the berries become much stronger in the middle, the malt becomes drier and dustier with some hay around the middle, but the alcohol heat becomes more significant at the back.

Finish: fresh mossy peat, a touch of ash, sweet malt, berries with a bit of dirt, polished oak tannins, mineral/stones

This is big in every sense of the word. The key elements - malt, oak, and peat - dominate the experience and push aside almost any nuance. The oak has that concentrated quality found in some recent Laphroaig 10 Year Cask Strength releases that makes is almost seem sherried. While I can see the appeal at this strength, the lack of nuance doesn't really do too much for me, especially considering the price. At the least, adding water is a necessity to get some complexity, though the extra alcohol heat makes that less palatable.

Continuing my tradition of experimenting with cask strength releases, I diluted this whisky to 50% and 46% to see how it developed.

50%

Nose: malt dominates with a bit of a sharp edge, mossy peat is very shy (though it expands a bit with time) and integrates with the green herbal/grass notes/seashore notes, integrated vanilla, bright but not aggressive oak

Taste: malt sweetness up front that is quickly joined by moderate oak tannins underneath, strong herbal/floral/vanilla notes in the middle, cinnamon and nutmeg, mossy peat is in the background near the end, berry overtones ride throughout

Finish: light mossy peat, dry malt, dried flowers, fresh vegetation, sweet berry notes

This strength presents a very peculiar balance - the peat is almost difficult to find, which lets the barrel and malt talk more loudly. It's not as soft as the 46% dilution - the alcohol makes itself known without being a kick in the face. The amped up sweetness, spices, and berry notes in the palate give it a bit more character, though the peat is even harder to find here.

46%

Nose: lots of dry malt with a touch of hay and polenta, light peat, a touch of smoke, dried mushrooms, green grass and herbs, vanilla frosting, very lightly floral, seashore/seaweed in the background, cinnamon, nutmeg, a touch of mint, fresh earth

Taste: very malty, lightly sweet, American oak with light floral and minty/herbal overtones picks up around the middle, joined by light peat wrapped around creamy vanilla malt at the back

Finish: hints of fruit esters (apples and berries?), malty, balanced oak tannins and peat, light vanilla

Considering its bombastic nature at full strength, the spirit gets downright tame when proofed down to 46%. While the peat certainly hasn't disappeared, it gets a lot softer, almost playing second fiddle to the malt. The palate isn't wildly complex, but the nose brings a lot more action, taking it in a fresh but not immature direction.

Looking over these three strengths makes me feel like we really need to step back from the veneration of cask and batch strength malts. While they do give consumers more options to drink their spirits at the strength of their choice, few will take the time to experiment and find the best dilution. For me the palate worked best at 50% while the nose shone at 46%. Proofing down single casks shouldn't be heresy.

Scotland 2013: Bruichladdich and Kilchoman Distillery Tours & Ballygrant

What was supposed to be one of the best days of my trip instead turned into one of the worst.

I'm not exactly sure what happened, but I think I got some kind of food poisoning. This resulted in a miserable, mostly sleepless night as my GI tract twisted itself in knots. By morning, I felt terrible and could barely get myself to eat anything for breakfast.

However, I was just well enough to wander a few hundred meters down the road to the Bruichladdich distillery for the tour I had scheduled.

I was just holding it together by the time the tour started. Becky led us off to the building where Bruichladdich's malt is stored and processed. As with most distilleries, Bruichladdich buys most of its malt from a commercial malster, in this case Bairds in Inverness. Smaller quantities of organic malt are purchased from Orkney and even smaller quantities are purchased from local farms for their Islay Barley series.

After milling the barley in a fairly standard fashion, Bruichladdich adds the grist to their cast iron mash tun. It is one of the few left in operation and has some wicked looking rakes inside.

The mash is then fermented in Oregon pine washbacks for a fairly long 72 hours to give wash at ~7% ABV, a little under the usual strength. They use two different strains of yeast, K and M, which have shorter and longer fermentation times, respectively. Bruichladdich doesn't fill its washbacks very high - only 36K liters of the 45K liter capacity is used, which means that they don't need switchers since there is little threat of them bubbling over during fermentation. Somewhat like Bowmore, the washback room smelled kind of like maple syrup.

Bruichladdich has two pairs of stills. Each washback contains enough liquid for three wash still charges, filling each still to 69% of its capacity. The wash stills are fairly plain, with slightly descending lyne arms, which should give a moderately neutral profile, though their height will increase the lightness of the spirit a bit. The low wines are then transferred to the spirit stills, which are roughly the same height but have much more narrow necks, which should increase reflux significantly.

Wash stills on the left, spirit stills on the right, stillman in the middle for scale

The wash still spirit safe with temperature and pressure gauges 

The underside of the wash still, which would have contained a coal-fired burner before the advent of steam coils

One peculiar feature of the still room was the gin still off in the corner. Named "Ugly Betty", it's an old Lomond still that has been repurposed for making Bruichladdich's Botanist gin. However, it's only been fired up four times since it was installed - each run produces enough spirit for a quarter of a million bottles of gin.

From the still room we went into one of the bonded warehouses. The ground floor was dunnage, with more storage up on a second floor. It was fascinating to see the variety of casks Bruichladdich keeps on site.

Spanish wine barrels below tiny experimental casks

Basic ex-bourbon barrels from Buffalo Trace

Biodynamic wine casks

Bordeaux wine casks 

Port Charlotte casks

Sadly I had to pass up a sample of Octomore aged in ex-sauternes casks that was handed down from the floor above - my stomach just wasn't up to it at that point. This was a shame, since I had been hankering to try Bruichladdich's Octomore Comus release, which was the same idea - heavily peated whisky aged in ex-sauternes casks.

We passed briefly back outside before heading over to the bottling hall. Bruichladdich is one of two distilleries on Islay that does its own bottling. It's a fairly labor-intensive process, though 'Laddie appears to be a bit up the scale compared to Springbank and Kilchoman.

The tour ended back in the visitor center, where we were offered samples of a few different whiskies. I tried a bit of the Laddie 10, to see how it compared to my bottle. It had the same acrid peat reek, but I was also not in top form that day, so it wasn't definitive either.

What really chaffed about being sick was that I had scheduled myself for a warehouse tasting after the tour. However, my stomach still wasn't feeling right, so I decided that it was better to be safe than sorry.

I stumbled back out into the sunshine around a bit before noon and walked to the B&B. It was really frustrating to feel so miserable on such a glorious day.

At this point I was faced with a dilemma. I had a tour at Kilchoman scheduled for 3 PM, which meant that there was theoretically more than enough time to pack up and ride there. However, I still wasn't feeling up to food at that point, so I'd have to push myself pretty hard just to get there. Complicating matters, I also needed to get to Ballygrant by the end of the day, as I was only staying in Bruichladdich for one night. So the question was whether I wanted to soldier on and see Kilchoman or play it safe and head straight for Ballygrant.

Being the stubborn person that I am, I decided to go to Kilchman and hope for the best. So I packed up, settled my bill, and (slowly) set off down the road.

It was only a few miles along Loch Indaal before I hung a left turn onto the B road heading west towards Kilchoman and Loch Gorm. While the road wasn't too bad and the traffic was surprisingly light, the terrain was rolling, which made it relatively hard going. Thankfully I only had a handful of miles to cover and the scenery was absolutely gorgeous.

To complicate matters, the last stretch to get to Kilchoman is actually a rocky dirt road. I was actually able to ride it instead of having to walk, but it was a close-run thing. By the time I finally rolled up to the visitors center, I was at whatever stage comes after running on fumes - it was a wonder I didn't actually pass out.

I had made fairly good time, so I actually had more than an hour wait before the tour started. Thankfully Kilchoman also has a decent cafe in their visitor center, which meant that I had time to refuel before the tour. My stomach had finally settled down enough that the prospect of food was finally attractive again. However, I had also reached the point where I was so tired that eating actually seemed like more effort than I could muster. I (very) slowly ate a sandwich and drank a Coke, which went a long way towards making me feel human again.

Eventually the tour began and Rebecca led us to the malt barn. Kilchoman had already produced enough malt to keep them going for a while, so the space was being used as general storage when we were there. When they are processing barley, each batch is roughly one ton and they do two maltings a week.

Kilchoman, like most of the distilleries on the island, sources most of its malted barley from Port Ellen. This barley is peated to a rather high 50 PPM. The other 30% is produced at the distillery from barley grown on their own farm. This is peated to a much more gentle 20-25 PPM. The local barley is kept separate from the PE malt, for use in their 100% Islay expressions. Rebecca also mentioned that Kilchoman is starting to experiment with unpeated malt, which I'll be quite interested to try if the whisky ever sees the light of day.

Because of the small quantities of malt Kilchoman produces at the distillery, that bucket in the lower left hand corner of the picture is enough to supply their kiln.

From there we ducked inside the stillhouse, which contains all of the other equipment the distillery uses in their production process. This makes their process relatively efficient, since the liquids don't have far to move between mash tun, washbacks, and stills. Kilchoman uses stainless steel for their mash tun and washbacks. Each washback holds 3600 liters of wash, which is fermented for a fairly long 72 hours to reach a standard 8% ABV.

The output of each washback is split into two charges for the wash still. The wash still is easily the smallest on the island, with a capacity of just 3230 liters, giving a charge of 56%. It has a relatively plain shape, though the lyne arm does slope down at a fairly shallow angle. Given the small size of the still (smaller objects have a higher surface area to volume ratio) and the lower charge, the spirit gets a fair amount of copper contact during its first distillation, though this is slightly balanced by the lyne arm, which will reduce reflux.

The low wines, which have an average strength of 25% ABV, are then piped over to the spirit still, which is even smaller at only 2070 liters. The bulb near the base of the neck of the still will increase reflux and copper contact, though this still also has a descending lyne arm, which will counterbalance that tendency. The foreshots cut is relatively short, ending only five minutes into the run. The hearts cut runs from a fairly high 75% down to a fairly low 63.5%, capturing a significant portion of the spirit. This makes sense, because Kilchoman simultaneously wants to produce a robust, smoky spirit, which requires a significant amount of heavier compounds to make it over, while also removing some of the less pleasant parts of the heads, which would require long aging to transform into more palatable compounds.

The steam coils inside the spirit still

Kilchoman currently has fairly low yield compared to the bigger distilleries (~400 liters/ton), getting 300 liters/ton from the Port Ellen malt and 260 liters/ton from their own malt. Given the lack of economy of scale at the distillery, it's not hard to see why their whisky ends up being fairly expensive.

The distillery's goal is to expand production up from 120K liters of spirit per year to 140K by doing seven mashes per week. Hopefully this will give them the capacity both to keep up with demand and set aside more whisky for longer aging.

When I visited, Kilchoman only had about 400 casks on site, with another 4000 tucked into various corners of bonded warehouses at other distilleries on Islay. Kilchoman primarily uses ex-bourbon casks from Buffalo Trace, with a smaller number of ex-sherry casks. They're also experimenting with other wine casks, like port, madeira, and sauternes. I can't wait to see how some of those turn out.

The first cask filled at the distillery

Most of Kilchoman's bourbon casks from from Buffalo Trace

I just learned that a new warehouse was finished in October, which will give them space for another 10,000 casks on site, eliminating the need to store any of their whisky at other distilleries. Both of their warehouses are the traditional dunnage type, with casks stacked three deep. While this makes for consistent aging, it does mean that it takes a lot of work to pull casks out.

Kilchoman also does its own bottling on site, though it's a slow and labor-intensive process. Automation will probably increase over time as their volume expands, but their goal is to keep it all on Islay to support the local economy.

Only four bottles can be filled at a time and they have to be moved by hand

At the end of the tour, we all got a taste of the latest 100% Islay release. It was significantly different from the Machir Bay that I tried last year - because it is made from the floor maltings on site, the peat is significantly less aggressive, letting the malt shine a bit more. Additionally, the whisky is made from spirit aged entirely in ex-bourbon barrels, which means that it doesn't have the hint of sherry that Machir Bay picks up from a short finish in ex-sherry casks. I really wish I could have spent more time with the whisky and tasted it under better circumstances, but it certainly piqued my interest.

Since my stomach had settled down a bit more, I decided to have a cup of hot chocolate at the distillery cafe before I left, as an extra boost for my ride to Ballygrant. It was, in a word, delicious, and I highly recommend having some if you ever visit.

After collecting my things, I once again set off. The dirt road was just as tricky going as coming, but I managed to traverse it without incident. While the hills were rolling and somewhat tough going, the general trend was down, which helped. Eventually I rejoined the main road and continued towards the north end of Loch Indaal, where I would turn off towards Ballygrant. The ride proceeded largely without incident - traffic was a bit heavier than I had been dealing with earlier, but people were still more or less polite. However, I was definitely starting to run low on fuel again by the time I actually rolled through the town of Ballygrant. Unfortunately, my destination was further on. It was a little frustrating not knowing how much further I had to go, but there wasn't any option other than to keep moving.

I am very grateful that I decided to find the Ballygrant Inn on Google Street View before I left - the signage isn't the easiest to spot, so it was very helpful to have seen a picture of the general area beforehand. I did get faked out a few times, but eventually found the right place with a decent amount of time to spare before sunset. There was another dirt road, but this time I chose to get off and walk.

Check in was a snap and my room was just off the lobby. The place was currently being remodeled and my room had clearly been refreshed recently. Unlike the B&Bs where I had been staying during the rest of my trip, it felt much more like a traditional hotel. While not as beat as I had been when I got to Kilchoman, I didn't have a lot left in me and basically collapsed right after taking a shower. I had another long day ahead and hoped that I would feel better in the morning.

Whisky Review: Kilchoman Machir Bay 2012

Kilchoman is the newest distillery on Islay, opened in 2005. It is also the smallest, with an output of only ~100,000 liters per year, roughly 10% the output of the next smallest distillery, Bunnahabhain. Kilchoman thus has to market itself in terms of craftsmanship and attention to detail. The distillery has its own working farm, which provides barley for their floor maltings (they're one of half a dozen distilleries that do their own malting). With that said, they still buy a lot of their malt from Port Ellen like most of the distilleries on the island, reserving their own maltings largely for their 100% Islay releases. Their stills are also about 10-20% the size of more standard stills on the island, which explains their comparatively low output. Right now most of their casks are first fill - ex-bourbon casks from Buffalo Trace and ex-oloroso sherry from Miguel Martin. These are unsurprising choices as first fill casks will impart flavor more quickly than second or third fill casks - the distillery would like their whisky to mature quickly so that it can be bottled at a relatively young age (scotch whisky must spend at least three years in oak before it can be bottled as 'whisky'). In keeping with their craft ethos, all of their whiskies are bottled at 46% ABV or more without chill filtration or coloring.

Since Kilchoman is such a new distillery, they've been taking an interesting route for their releases - up until this year, they put out a new bottling every season, so that fans could experience how the spirit was maturing. Only within the last year have they started to put out 5 year old age-dated releases. Machir Bay is supposed to be Kilchoman's first regular release, now that they have sufficient aged stock to put out similar bottlings on a regular basis.

Kilchoman Machir Bay 2012

Nose: salty bacon and meaty barbecue, cacao/bittersweet chocolate, vegetal peat, driftwood fire ashes, tar, mineral, a bit of underlying malt, pea soup/green vegetables, some underlying creamy malt, the barest hint of sherry and oak tannins. After adding a few drops of water, the peat becomes even more vegetal, but the ash remains, there's more bacon and a hint of sherry, but it becomes lighter overall.

Taste: thin, sugary sweetness up front, a wash of sherry, dirty lemons, peat swiftly moves in with smoke, ash, and vegetal notes along with a very strong, sharp note of anise or licorice that carries all the way into the finish, a flash of bittersweet chocolate, then a bit of earthy barnyard, TCP and black pepper come in further back. After dilution, the palate becomes creamier and more integrated.

Finish: slightly sweet, black pepper, anise, licorice some ashy peat, bitter oak

Machir Bay is a blend of ex-bourbon cask 60% 3 year old, 35% 4 year old, and 5% five year old whisky, which are then vatted and aged in oloroso sherry butts for 8 weeks. The result is surprisingly mature for its age, without any of the green-ish notes or overly aggressive alcohol that one tends to associate with young single malts. My hat goes off to the distillery team for putting together a product that has matured so well, so quickly. With that said, the peat is still the focus, its fires undimmed by the brief time in oak. Unlike Longrow CV, the other younger peated whisky I've tried, Machir Bay is much more on the smoky/ashy end of the peat spectrum, compared to the Longrow which seemed very fresh and vegetal. It really does seem to be a product of its place, strongly reminding me of a bonfire on the beach. Initially I found the anise/licorice notes to be rather strong, which was slightly dissonant to my palate, but thankfully they settled down after the bottle was open for a few weeks. Finding anise notes at all may just be a matter of my sensorium, as Michael Kravitz didn't notice anything of the sort in his review. But either way, if you find Machir Bay a little off-putting at first, I'd give the bottle a little time to settle down before rendering a final judgement.

As a value proposition, this one is a little bit tricky. It is undoubtably young, but the price is up in the same territory as a lot of good whiskies that are 3-4x its age. On the other hand, it's also just as tasty and you get the benefit of supporting a new distillery and seeing what they can do, just as it starts to hit its stride. I'll definitely be looking forward to seeing what Kilchoman puts out over the next 5-6 years as the approach the point of being able to put out a more standard 10 year old whisky. I'm also a bit tempted to step up to their more expensive Sherry Cask release, which might help to temper some of the fiery peat. Overall, a worthwhile dram, especially for peat-heads.