The first non-Springbank review of the year! I’ve not been blogging as much as I’d like, but let’s just hope to remedy that soon.

Earlier this week I got a package from The Whisky Exchange containing a sample of this new Kilchoman, exclusively bottled for them. It’s a 10 year old sherry matured Kilchoman, from a single butt (there’s 600 bottles, so it must be a butt, right?).

Generally, Kilchoman from either a sherry or bourbon cask is amazing, and this one has a rather decent age to it, especially for a Kilchoman. Based on Whiskybase, I can only find one 11 year old, but everything else is much younger. So one of the older Kilchomans, from a sherry butt, at cask strength. From one of the more trustworthy bottlers (by that I mean, their general level of quality if very good).

Sniff:
There’s quite a lot of smoke at first, with the smoke being slightly fatty and barbecue like. Charred bacon. Some oloroso sherry (I think it’s oloroso, at least), with peach. It’s also rather coastal. Salty, briny and even slightly fishy. Barbecued fish, maybe?

Sip:
The palate is on the sharp side, which isn’t strange with the ABV over 58%. Again, the barbecue smoke is persent, with some oak in the background. Peach, tar, hemp rope and a lot of sherry. In the background of this all, there’s a slightly creamy mouthfeel (after you’ve gotten used to the high ABV).

Swallow:
The finish sticks to the smoke notes for a long time, but is slightly more earhty than before. Warming, with barbecue and the bark you get on good ribs. A long finish, with fruity sherry and slightly drying hints of coastal/harbor flavors (tar and rope and salt).

Well, this is good. Very, very good. An absolutely gorgeous Kilchoman with lots of interesting notes. The coastal notes and the rather peaty character of the spirit combine very well with the fruity intensity of the sherry cask. It’s a very ballsy whisky with a lot of punchy flavors, at a high ABV, so it might not be for everyone, but I sure love it!

It’s currently available at The Whisky Exchange for £125, which seems fair for a whisky of this caliber, in the current market.

89/100

Kilchoman 2007, 10yo, Sherry butt 401/2007, 58.5%, The Whisky Exchange Exclusive.

Thanks to TWE for sending a sample!