During November’s Winter Whisky Tasting at De Whiskykoning there are bound to be some Feis Ile bottlings. He does try to get some drams in that I don’t already know and while that sounds awfully entitled, I book the entire tasting so there’s always going to be some discussion about the line-up.

Generally, I’m somehow not a huge fan of Kilchoman. I have tasted some incredibly awesome drams from the distillery, there have been some merely okay ones too. What also really turns down my liking for a distillery is when there are hundreds of single casks out there in under a decade. There’s just too much randomness.

The tiny Islay distillery is on the short-list for our planned visit in 2018. Things might change then, and I might come back loving the place. It wouldn’t be the first time for something like that to happen (like with Bruichladdich).

Anyway, this year’s Feis Ile bottling was drawn from a single Oloroso Sherry Butt and resulted in 634 bottles of cask strength whisky.

Image from Whiskybase

Sniff:
The nose is sharp and the first thing to hit you is the barley. There’s a rather light smoke with some fruit. It’s slightly dry with peaches and apricot. Also, there’s a whiff of vegetable like sulfur.

Sip:
The palate brings a gentle fruitiness too, with sharp, fierce smoke and peaches.

Swallow:
The finish suddenly is ashy with sharp, medicinal smoke. Hints of oak, dried peaches and a general sense of dryness.

Well, while this is a fairly straight forward whisky, it is actually rather tasty. I like the finish most with the more ashy and medicinal notes. It’s never too complex and actually doesn’t do anything unexpected, its quite tasty and if I would have picked up a bottle at the Feis I’d be happy. I’d never pay the € 200 it’s going for now, though.

88/100

Kilchoman Feis Ile 2016, 2007-2016, Oloroso Sherry Butt 429/2007, 56.6%