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KWM 2021 Whisky Calendar Day 10: Kilchoman 2013 Mezcal Finish KWM Cask

Posted on December 10, 2021

by Evan

RECAP TASTING REMINDER: If you are interested in joining us via Zoom for our 5-day recap tasting, the next one happens on December 10th @ 7 PM Calgary time.  If you have not already done so, you can sign up to be emailed the Zoom link for these tastings here. You will also be able to find these tastings on Facebook Live and recorded for posterity there as well.

Day 10 brings us an oddity and a first for the KWM Whisky Calendar: A Single Malt Scotch finished in a Mezcal Cask?!?

One of the not-so-big surprises is that we do indeed have a Kilchoman in our KWM Whisky Calendar once more this year. We did take a break in 2020, but in the now seven years of building KWM Whisky Calendars, this marks the SIXTH Kilchoman KWM Cask to make it into the box by my count. If you add in the other mini bottles of Kilchoman that we have featured over the years, I believe this is the ninth Kilchoman to be featured in KWM's Whisky Calendar since we started making them back in 2015.

Even with that being said, this bottle is a wee bit different than past Kilchoman KWM Casks thanks to that Mezcal Finish! Have you had a Mezcal cask finish before? This marks only the third Mezcal cask finished Scotch that I have heard of - and one of the other two was also from Kilchoman.

Enough with the wild and possibly inaccurate numbers. Want to know a little more about Kilchoman Distillery? Well then, I am happy to accommodate!

Kilchoman Distillery was founded waaaaay back in... 2005. It is currently the youngest distillery on Islay to produce Whisky - and will remain that way until the younger Ardnahoe Distillery (which started producing its first spirit in October of 2018) has its first whisky release. Kilchoman was founded by Anthony Wills and resides on Rockside Farm on Islay. It is the only farm distillery on Islay, and one of the only Islay that is not located right on the shores of the island. Kilchoman's nearest distillery neighbours are Bruichladdich which is a 15-minute drive to the east and Bowmore, which is a 25-minute drive to the east. 

Like a majority of the nine operating distilleries on Islay, Kilchoman focuses on mashing and distilling peated malt. Much of the distillery's malted barley needs are sourced from the Port Ellen Maltings plant which is about a 40-minute drive to the east and south along the A846 road. Kilchoman sources malted barley peated to the same specification as Ardbeg, which is around 50 ppm. The distillery also operates its own floor maltings which account for a small portion of its spirit production. The barley used for the floor maltings comes from their own Rockside Farm, making Kilchoman one of the only Scottish Distilleries capable of doing batches that are entirely grain to glass. These releases are often bottled under the 100% Islay moniker and their own floor maltings are peated to 'only' 20 ppm or so.

With Kilchoman being so young, how and why is it that we have bottled so many Single Casks from the distillery over the years? First and foremost this has to do with the quality of the whisky that Kilchoman produces. The second reason is that we love Kilchoman here at Kensington Wine Market, and we feel damned lucky privileged that they seem to like us back.

This brings us back to the weirdness of the Mezcal Cask. I am not sure if it was Andrew, myself or Curt that first noticed that Kilchoman was releasing a Mezcal Cask Finished whisky about a year ago, but we were intrigued and shared the news with each other. Andrew then reached out to Kilchoman importer Andy Dunn to see about the possibility of cask samples to possibly select from. Andy managed to source the samples from a very generous Anthony Wills. When we tasted this cask we fell in love with how the Mezcal notes interacted with the Kilchoman Spirit. I have not tasted it since that sample, so I am excited to try out the bottled form! Shall we?

Kilchoman 2013 Mezcal Finish KWM Cask - 55.2%

Evan’s Tasting Note

Nose: Plenty of shellfish with a smoky and citric edge. Smoked mussels, shrimp dipped in cocktail sauce, chalky Sweet Tarts candies, agave nectar, dehydrated lime wheels, raw sliced radishes, cracked black pepper, rubber cement, and Canada Dry Gingerale - you know: the stuff that vaguely smells and tastes like ginger was near it at some point but does not actually contain any ginger.

Palate: Here comes the funk! Sweet smoke plus a creamy and salty palate with a definite Mezcal character to it. Sharpie ink, model glue, a dash of horseradish, grilled prawns dipped in lemon butter, Bouillabaisse broth, and a shot of Blanco Tequila: lick the salt from the back of your hand, take the shot and then suck on that wedge of lemon! 

Finish: The weirdness calms down as the mix of Kilchoman and Mezcal settle down and decide to be friends. Sweet, smoky and salty.

Comment: The Mezcal doesn't hit me as much on the nose as it does the palate, but after tasting it and going back it is all of the places. This is a very interesting experiment and If you are a fan of either Kilchoman or Mezcal you need to try it.

We are still searching for our first Tobasco cask finished whisky to put in our Whisky Calendar. For all of our sakes, hopefully, we never find one. See you all tomorrow for Day Eleven!

Cheers,
Evan
[email protected]
Twitter and Instagram: @sagelikefool

This entry was posted in Store, Whisky, Tastings, Tequila and Mezcal, Whisky Calendars, KWM Whisky Calendar 2021

 

 

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