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9th May 2021 |
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Review of the Kilchoman
Fèis Ìle 2021 Experimental Casks Tasting
Pack which you can join Kilchoman to
taste live online at 7.15pm on Thursday
3rd June.
Fèis
Ìle 2021, Islay's annual festival of
music and malt, is fast approaching and as
with last year due to the ongoing Covid
pandemic the 2021 celebrations will be
online. This year Kilchoman distillery
are planning a packed schedule of events
for their Fèis day on Thursday 3rd June,
everything from fully immersive 360
degree interviews with the production
team to behind the scenes Q&As, Live
Tastings and Food Pairings.
Kilchoman has made three special
Kilchoman whisky tasting packs available
for whisky fans to enjoy and to join in
with live tastings if they wish from the comfort of
their own home.
The third tasting of those packs is the
Kilchoman Experimental Casks
pack which contains four whiskies. Over
the years Kilchoman have released a
number of limited edition experimental
cask types, from last years Fino to the
upcoming Madeira, they have always
enjoyed trying something a bit
different. These casks are all full
maturation and not finishes, allowing
the full impact of the different cask
types to be felt on the whisky.
You can join Kilchoman to taste the
Kilchoman DNA pack live at 7.15pm on
Thursday 3rd June,
I was lucky enough to get hold of the
Kilchoman DNA pack and this is my
thoughts on the four whiskies in it:
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Kilchoman Calvados Cask 356 2018 Review
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This cask is selected from Kilchoman's
first batch of full maturation Christian
Drouin Calvados casks. Bottled at 62.1%
ABV, non chill filtered and naturally
coloured.
William
Morrison's Tasting Notes:
Nose:
Sweet apple and less obvious pear,
honey, raisin and a gentle touch of peat
smoke.
Taste:
Sweet sugared peat, vanilla, a little butterscotch, a touch of lemon
zest, a little apple and pear and a wee
touch of oak spice, it still has a wee
touch of spiritiness about it.
Finish:
A longish finish, it may be young but it
hangs in there. the touch of apple is
still hanging on as is the sweet peat
and lemon zest, quite spicy after a
couple of mouthfuls.
Comment: This
is young but has potential, great to
know Kilchoman are experimenting to
offer whisky fans something off the
normal beaten track., will we see this
again in another few years or so, I hope
so but it is too young yet but that
could dramatically change in another
couple of years.
SMW Score
80/100
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Kilchoman Port Cask 480 2014 Review
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Fully matured in Ruby Port cask
for almost 7 years. Ruby Port casks
similar to this have been used in
previous Kilchoman limited releases in
the past, however this single cask has
had a far longer maturation. Bottled at
57.3% ABV, non chill filtered and
naturally coloured.
William
Morrison's Tasting Notes:
Nose:
An enticing rich fruity
nose with sweet raisin, plum, apricot, orange
and lemon. Creamy
vanilla toffee, dark chocolate and an
ashy peat smoke.
Taste:
Ashy peat smoke infused with rich port
cask fruit leads with a some plum jam,
orange, a juicy raisin fruitiness and
toffee.
Finish:
The luscious port rich fruit infused Kilchoman
sweet ashy smoke simply lingers for an
age before bowing out and leaving a
gentle oak spice.
Comment:
A delicious balance of the port cask
fruits, toffee and the lovely ashy
Kilchoman peat smoke. A real quality
juicy port cask at play here. Peat and
port doesn't always work but when it
does it is delicious and this has worked
very well.
SMW Score
89/100
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Kilchoman Cognac Cask 737 2016 Review
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This Ferrand Cognac cask is one of the
first test batches to be filled in 2016.
Bottled at 58.4% ABV, non chill filtered
and naturally coloured.
William
Morrison's Tasting Notes:
Nose:
A lovely sweet maltiness, gentle
honeycomb toffee, raisin and dried
apricot, just a whiff of peat smoke.
Taste:
Peppered toffee infused with ashy peat
smoke, raisin, orange citrus, vanilla
and oak spice, some late cocoa. There is
still has a wee touch of spiritiness
about it.
Finish:
The fruit leaves fist leaving some
gentle ashy peat, burnt sugar and mildly
drying peppery oak spice.
Comment:
You very rarely see cognac casks being
used to even finish Scotch whisky never
mind fully mature it, so this really is
a experimental cask and it has worked
well, it is still a young and it shows a
little but still very enjoyable. The
peat was hidden somewhat o the nose but
it certainly made itself know on the
palate
SMW Score
80/100
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Kilchoman STR Cask 207 2018 Review
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Matured in a STR (Shaved, Toasted and
Re-charred) Red Wine cask. This specific
cask type is very uncommon. Bottled at
61.5% ABV, non chill filtered and
naturally coloured.
William
Morrison's Tasting Notes:
Nose:
A fresh fruity nose with damson jam and
raisins, some vanilla, toffee and spice
and just a gentle whiff of ashy peat
smoke.
Taste:
A balance of gentle ashy peat smoke,
toffee, honey and some lovely sweet
summer berry fruits all with a delicious
spicy edge.
Finish:
Longish, the ashy peat and fruits fade
to leave some oak spiced and slightly
floral honey and a wee touch of
liquorice.
Comment:
The gentle red wine cask influence
balances very well with Kilchoman's peat
to make for a very flavoursome
experience and the bottling strength
simply adds to that experience. This is
still very young, but I wonder just how
good this could be in a few more years.
SMW Score
86/100
The
Kilchoman Fèis
Ìle 2021 bottling and virtual tasting
packs will only be available from the
Kilchoman website but don't hang around
or you may miss out.
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Kilchoman Fèis Ìle 2021 Tasting Packs Reviews
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review:
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