Whisky: Kilchoman 4 Year SMWS 129.7 “An artist in an antique boat”

Country/Region: Scotland/Islay

ABV: 64.5%

Cask: First Fill Bourbon Barrel

Age: 4 Years (Distilled 29 June 2010)

Nose: Maritime, smoke, and farmy funk. I imaged smoking sheds along the sea shore, kelp drying racks, and cigars in the evening light. Herbal and slightly funky with notes of elephant exhibits and cow paddies that veered toward oil paints and modeling clay. Hints of lemonade and crushed ginger in the background.

Palate: Full-bodied and oily with herbal smoke, burnt sugar, and maritime salt. Herbal, almost licorice candy, top notes with freshly roasted coffee and salty maritime air. Spirited and aggressive— perhaps unsurprising considering the age and abv— with ample peat reek, dried grass, and earthy notes.  A few drops of water smoothed out the heat and allowed additional citrus and sea shell notes to appear. The smoking shed came back into view with abalone, muscles, and smokey maritime meats.

Finish: Lingering notes of sweet acrid smoke and brine.

Score: 6

Mental Image: Jelly Beans: Briny Delight Collection

Notes: Kilchoman is rare to see from an independent bottler. A glance at whiskybase tells the story: there were only a few dozen independently bottled Kilchoman before the distillery largely abandoned cask trading and invested in its single cask program. For much of the last decade, if you wanted to try single cask, Kilchoman, the distillery, and their import partners made loads of single cask and small batch selections available. Trying a slightly older Kilchoman from the brief period when the distillery traded casks to independent bottlers was a treat.

Despite the high abv., I was surprised at just how aggressive this was on the palate and how easily a few drops of water smoothed out the experience. The nose was absent any real prickly heat or spirit as it showed a remarkable depth of farmy funk and maritime delights. The palate was better with water— it lost none of its oily viscosity— but remained a bit on the simple side and never hit the same level as the aroma.

Overall, a real treat and a great snapshot of where the distillery was a decade ago!