Kilchoman 2015/2023 - 7 yo - Bourbon Cask #476/2015

Volume: 0.7 litres | Alcohol content: 56% | Chill filtration: No | Colouring: No

Special Features:

Maturation entirely in a Bourbon Barrel shapes this single-cask release from Kilchoman. It belongs to the Uniquely Islay Series – An Samhradh 2023, a selection of ten releases featuring different cask types, maturation periods and peat characteristics. This whisky focuses on the influence of a single bourbon cask, with no subsequent finish in another cask type.

Kilchoman distilled the whisky on 8 July 2015. It matured in Bourbon Barrel number 476/2015 until bottling on 7 June 2023 — just under eight years, with a declared age of seven years. The cask yielded 245 bottles, each containing 0.7 litres at 56% alcohol. The whisky is non-chill-filtered and contains no colouring; it comes with gift packaging.

Fresh peat smoke, creamy sweetness and orange peel form the defining flavour contrasts of this release. The sweet and fruity impressions complement its strongly smoky character, while spicy oak adds further definition.

Tasting Notes:

• Nose: Fresh peat smoke meets fresh orange peel on the nose. A light spiciness remains in the background.
• Palate: The whisky feels full and rounded on the palate. Orange peel is accompanied by a little vanilla and caramel; peat smoke and spicy oak shape the flavour.
• Finish: Peat smoke lingers in the medium-length finish, alongside hints of tropical fruit, vanilla and oak.

Distillery/Bottler:

Anthony and Kathy Wills founded Kilchoman in 2005 at Rockside Farm on Islay. The family distillery combines farming with whisky production: for its 100% Islay releases, it grows barley in the surrounding fields and malts it on traditional malting floors, where the grain is turned by hand. Growing its own barley and traditional floor malting are central to its farm concept.

The distillery's production methods include fermentation lasting around 90 hours and slow distillation in small copper pot stills. The long fermentation encourages fruity and sweet flavour components. A tall, narrow neck and a bulge on the spirit still allow additional reflux and copper contact, reducing heavy, oily components. The team controls distillation by hand. Kilchoman also bottles its single malts on site.

Facts: