Kilchoman - talk to me

[TheWM]

Having sat through a bit of an Islay tasting session tonight and on my second bottle (Machir Bay and 3rd edition) - I'm just not getting it.

Ardbeg 10 and Laga 16 were head and shoulders above this and given that they are similarly priced - what am I missing?

Is it just that they are relatively new an are not producing in much volume? Or the fact that they are the new kid on the block, people are going a bit mental over it.

Or is there a killer bottle out there that will explain it all?

[opelfruit]

I really like Kilchoman.

It's young at the moment as they haven't been going long, so most stuff is only 5 or 6 years when released. It's hand done from start to finish (they grow their own barley I think too) and release in smallish batch. Because it's young it's on the sweeter side and it's not heavy heavy peat, I find its quite oily, fat and very diesel like which I love.

Personally, stick with Machir Bay. I think at the price point it's very good whisky. They do some crazier releases (port pipe, or cask strength) but either the MB or the Loch Gorm are probably the better of the range.

If you "don't get it" then you don't. Just not your taste mate, nothing wrong with that.

I tend to drink it over summer when I want a lively and lighter whisky and I think that helps, certainly atmosphere effects the experience....
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"Too much of anything is bad, but too much good whisky is barely enough."

[TheWM]

That's fair enough - it seems like it's just not for me.

The Machir Bay is drinkable, just doesn't hold up well to the aforementioned whiskies that I had today.

I'm guessing a bit more age won't hurt it to give a better comparison.

Interesting about the barley - I read that too somewhere. That is very old school, something that has been discontinued by many distilleries for a long time - indeed I believe much barley comes from England now.

I suppose I'm paying for the artisan nature of this whisky. I'll let it settle for a while and come back to it in a few weeks, see if that helps.

[opelfruit]

Yeah give it another go another time, it's more subtle that the others and doesn't swim well so avoid any water.

Personally Laga 16 doesn't do it all for me really. I've not had it in some time but years back I found a quality drop and moved onwards. For £40 I don't think you can go wrong with Machir Bay, but that's just me. Try it on its own and get to know it a bit better before putting it up against Islay bruisers.

I do agree, a bit more maturation is needed, spirit quality is there but I could do with nudging 8-10 years for some extra complexity.
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"Too much of anything is bad, but too much good whisky is barely enough."

[TheWM]

Yes - it's fairly one dimensional although I can see why this would work well on a hot day. Like I said - I'll give a whirl in a few weeks time and see where we are with it.

I see the earlier bottles are fetching good money now; I'm guessing that there must be a strong following out there.

I feel a trip to Islay coming on so I can investigate further

[GBrough]

I still need to order a bottle, got distraced by the botanist gin from bruichladdich.
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The Laga 16.

It even tastes like an ashtray-WM