WHISKY.DE ORDERS THREE KILCHOMAN LIMITED EXPRESSIONS

 Kilchoman Machir Bay Single Malt Whisky Exclusive Bottlings For Whisky.de

The single malt scotch whisky market is a competitive one. Scotland is not short of distilleries and over the last few years there has been a huge surge in the number of new distilleries opening, or even re-opening. Imagine that competition on small island that already has cult status amongst whisky fans worldwide, Islay. That tiny island already has seven fully operational distilleries which all have their own dedicated followings and have all been running in one form or another for over 100 years each.  Further still, one of those distilleries has just successfully come out from a total revival, and just happens to be based down the road that you want to set your business up on. That was the challenge faced by the team at Kilchoman back in the early 2000s. Despite all this, Kilchoman distilled its first whiskies in December 2005 and has since developed a core range of whiskies that developed their own loyalty and following, with the flagship release of which being the Machir Bay bottling. Since 2012, Machir Bay has been available as the forerunner of the distillery’s output and has slowly developed over the years since into a mainstay of Islay whiskies. The whisky is named after a beach near the distillery and is a combination of bourbon and sherry matured whiskies from the self-sufficient farm-based distillery and bottled at the whisky-maker’s preferred 46% ABV.

Kilchoman is the first new distillery on Islay in 124 years. Construction finished in 2005 in a cluster of disused buildings on Rockside Farm near Islay’s western coast and the distillery began producing spirit for an Islay-craving world. Unfortunately as is the case with any Scotch distillery, that whisky won’t be able to compete with its peers until it has aged sufficiently. In order to stay in business, Kilchoman began producing very young “preview” bottlings to attract interest, showcase distillery potential, and raise funds. The first, in 2009, was aged 3 years and 3 months. Producing only 100,000 litres annually, the small distillery is attempting to stick to its “craft” roots – growing barley on its own farm (the upcoming “100% Islay” release will contain whisky made exclusively from this barley), using its own floor maltings, and eschewing chill-filtration and the addition of colouring agents. Kilchoman promises to be one of the best craft single malt Scotches when it reaches a competitive age.

Machir Bay: A short distance past the distillery, down a single track road, lies Machir Bay on the islands Atlantic coast, a place both beautiful and dramatic in equal measure. Steep cliffs give way to a long stretch of golden sand that feels like the last bastion of safety before a violent sea which stretches all the way to North America. Strong currents make swimming impossible while various seafaring vessels have run into all kinds of trouble in the tumultuous waters of the bay.

In 1835, a ship named ‘Stella’, sailing from Palermo to Greenock ran aground in Machir Bay, though fortunately on that occasion, the crew were rescued without any loss of life. Others were not so lucky. In 1888 for example, the Norwegian barque ‘La Planta’ entered the waters of the bay, where a shift in unsecured cargo caused the vessel to list and eventually run aground. 3 men were lost that day, though even that incident would pale in comparison to the events of October 6th 1918…

HMS Otranto was an armed merchant cruiser requisitioned by the Royal Navy at the onset of war in 1914. On the 25th of September the ship departed New York at the head of a great convoy but ran into a terrible storm after ten days at sea. Conditions worsened over the next 48 hours and by October 6th, the entire convoy was hopelessly lost. When a rocky coastline came into view, Otranto’s officers mistakenly identified the land mass as the tip of Ireland and steered north in order to traverse it, inadvertently setting themselves on a collision course with HMS Kashmire, who’s crew had correctly recognised the west coast of Scotland and made south. Kashmir punched a hole in Otranto’s hull 16 feet wide and 20 feet deep, flooding the engine room, killing all power and instantly drowning any crewmen in the area.

While badly damaged, HMS Kashmire was able to break free and withdraw but alas, Otranto was defenceless against the pounding of the waves and eventually broke in two on the rocks about a kilometre from shore. Some of the crew were able to jump aboard the British destroyer Mounsey which bravely pulled alongside the doomed vessel, but many more were lost. Estimates place the loss of life at around 470 men, making this dreadful incident one of the worst collisions of the war.

Standing on the beach at Machir Bay today, gazing at a sea which seems to boil and churn, even when calm, one can almost feel the devastating events that happened there. Then, with a sharp intake of salty air and a blast of Atlantic wind, one perfectly grasps the reasoning behind the naming of Kilchoman’s flagship single malt after this wild and awesome place.

Almost two kilometres of beautiful sandy beach welcome you onto Machir Bay. With a combination of rough turbulent seas and stunningly beautiful sunsets, the Machir Bay expression embodies the bay after which it is named, and is the flagship of the Kilchoman range. It has a vatting of approximately 90% bourbon barrels and 10% oloroso sherry casks.

Kilchoman Machir Bay is bottled at 46% ABV and retails in the UK for around £45.

Nose: Lemon and Vanilla with Creamy White Chocolate and Caramel, all wrapped in a blanket of Smoke and Ash.

Palate: Sea Salt & Brine, Vanilla, Honey and Caramel, Malt & Peppery Spice with strong undercurrent of Islay Smoke.

Value for Money: The quality of the whisky more than justifies the price.

The Whisky.de Collection 

Three limited Kilchoman Single Malt Whisky editions were exclusivly bottled for Whisky.de. One is a single cask bottling with a finish in a Ruby Port quarter cask, the other two are Machir Bay Collaborative Vattings. For those Machir Bay editions the proportions of bourbon and sherry casks differ from the classic one.

Kilchoman Machir Bay is the standard bottling of the Islay distillery, the most important member of the core range. The peatyness of the barley that is used is 50ppm. The Machir Bay is a whisky without age statement; the majority is five to six year old whisky. It is batched from bourbon barrels and a small amount of sherry casks, the ratio being around 90% / 10%.

With the Kilchoman Machir Bay Collaborative Vattings, fans of the distillery can get to know the aromatic influence of different vattings and the impact of the sherry casks. Whisky.de exclusively presents the Kilchoman Machir Bay Collaborative Vatting 85/15 with a sherry cask content of 15% and the Kilchoman Machir Bay Collaborative Vatting 87.5 / 12.5 with 12.5% cask content. As with the classic Machir Bay, the alcohol content is 46% ABV. Both editions are strictly limited.

The single cask edition Kilchoman Port Quarter Cask 'Whisky.de exclusive' 2013/2020 is also limited, of course. After about seven years of aging in first fill bourbon casks, the whisky (50ppm) was finished in a Ruby Port quarter cask. Due to the small volume of the casks, it has a big influence on the whisky. Limited to 146 bottles, this Kilchoman Single Malt was bottled at 56% ABV.

Courtesy whisky.de