Kilchoman Special Release Sauternes Cask

Kilchoman Distillery is a small, independent farm distillery located on the Isle of Islay, Scotland, founded in 2005. Renowned for its heavily peated single malt Scotch whiskies, Kilchoman is one of the few distilleries in Scotland to control the entire production process on site—from barley growing and malting to distilling and maturation—producing whiskies that reflect Islay’s bold, smoky character and strong sense of place.

After a six year absence, Kilchoman's Sauternes matured expression is back, this time boasting a full-term maturation instead of a five month finish. Founder, Anthony Wills selected a combination of fresh and refill Sauternes barriques (22% vs 78%) from two separate years, the youngest being 2018. The result is not too dissimilar to the last version, with flashes of dried apricots and peaches detectable through the savoury, earthy peat reek. A bit of a sweetie at mid palate where the oils thicken until typical Kilchoman peat overtakes, ash and pepper in tow, with an unexpectedly, dry chewy finish that shows some wet stone minerality. 50% Alc./Vol. Non chill filtered.