Kilchoman 5yo PX finish – AbbeyWhisky – 58.3%

Info: An Abbey Whisky Exclusive single cask from Kilchoman distilled in 2009. Cask #285/09 has been matured for over four and a half years in a fresh bourbon barrel before being transferred to a Pedro Ximénez cask for a further four months maturation. Bottled at cask strength, 58.3% abv with 270 bottles filled.

Colour: Sunny golden, slight reddish tint.

Nose: Full and rich, peaty and ash smoky with plenty of malt. There’s some kind of aniseed-like note in the background along with coffee grouts. After a while slaty notes appear. Even more time leads to a sweet, wine-like nose. It’s a roller coaster and giving it time to breath is fun (and needed). The PX has worked well here adding depth, but I wouldn’t have identified it at first.

Palate: Very thick and warming with it’s massive mouth covering oils on your palate giving spice and sweetness along with those trademark Islay peat notes, ash and hints of iodine along with the wine elements. There’s distillery character there, but you wouldn’t particularly peg this as only 5 years old!

Finish: The wine-like, summer berry red fruit notes mix with the aniseed to leave a medium sweet smoky finish that lasts for a good long time. There’s a liquorice note left at the end which then turns into a really long gently lingering sherry sweetness.

Water: A drop of water brings out some dry spices on the nose and makes the palate more easily approached, it tones down the wine-like elements but keeps the smoke and sweetness, so worth a drop to open the dram up in my opinion.

Thoughts: Kilchoman is a very honest dram, produced in really small quantities in a very authentic / traditional way… all that provenance comes through easily on this dram, making it really enjoyable and moreish. Abbey Whisky have managed to get hold of a good cask here and are lucky to have it as an exclusive whisky to their range!

Available: Abbey Whisky – £78.95

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Thanks to Abbey Whisky for the sample.