And now to finish up my series called “There will be Kilchoman till the score is paid”, in which I review Kilchoman until I run out of Kilchoman.
It’s a simple concept. I’ve run out.
Originally I wanted to post three Kensington Wine Market Kilchoman store picks. They are located in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, before everyone starts asking about where in Kensington these exist.
However sadly there was a mixup and I didn’t end up with the third pick, which is ten years old. So it’s not part of this review.
What we do have is two different cask picks. Each roughly the same age, and almost the same cask number (oddly). We’re here to see what a finish of PX has done to one, and what a year longer in ex-bourbon has done to another.
Oh, and they were distilled at different points. And heck, let’s be honest, we don’t know where in the warehouse they were located, if one person was flipping both of them, and the other aspects that change things.
Let’s see how they picked Kilchoman, shall we?
Kilchoman 4 2011 PX KWM Cask 446
Price: $143.99 CAD at Kensington Wine Market (Currently sold out)
Region: Islay
Cask Type: Ex-bourbon, then finished in Pedro Ximenez Sherry Casks
Cask Number: 446/2011
Number of Bottles: 222
Distilled: 28th July 2011
Bottled: 25th July 2016
Bottled for Kensington Wine Market, Alberta
Abv: 57.5%
Colour: 5Y 8/8
Nose: Raspberry, mint, balsamic vinegar, brine
Interesting mixture of nice raspberry and mint on the nose. It reminds me of somewhere between a light salad dressing, and a really nice summer dessert.
That said, not much pops up beyond that. It’s not super complex on the nose. I want a bit more. The peat is all mint.
Taste: Anise, papaya, coal, salami, caramel
Happy with more of the peat influence on the taste. Lovely nice spice, good meatiness, and some earth/coal notes.
Not to mention the PX cask has added some nice tropical vibes, and different than the typical tropical aspects. In other words, papaya is pretty awesome and I’m happy it’s here.
Finish: Pepper, basil, orange zest, lemon-lime soda, coal
Finish is pretty young. I think this was what they were aiming to hide it with the PX cask. It’s pretty rough.
Conclusion: An interesting nose, and while I was hoping for more on it, I can see the appeal. The taste has what I feel should have been throughout the whisky. And the finish needed more work.
So it’s nice, but not great. You need to dig through it. And ignore the finish. And that the nose is simple but nice.
77/100
Kilchoman 5 2010 KWM Cask 440
Price: $139.99 CAD at Kensington Wine Market (I think this is sold out)
Region: Islay
Cask Type: Ex-bourbon barrel
Cask Number: 440/2010
Number of Bottles: 221
Distilled: August 26th, 2010
Bottled: July 10th, 2015
Bottled for Kensington Wine Market, Alberta
Abv: 60.4%
Colour: 7.5Y 9/6
Nose: Straw/manure, BBQ chicken, cocoa, sweet cornbread
Now we’re cooking. Initial barnyard notes that just rock me right to my childhood… visiting the cousins who lived on a farm.
Eventually, there’s wonderful Umami/BBQ notes, good cocoa, and water brings out some sweet, corn notes.
Taste: Tarragon, vanilla, mango, coconut macaroons
Initial note threw me off a bit. I’m not used to the type of herbal on it. Given time/water, that moves to the side, with lots of vanilla, mango, and coconut popping up.
Finish: Wheat, salted caramel, sunflower seeds, apricot, candied ginger
Cereal… what the heck? It pops with the sweetness from the taste, has some cereal and seed notes, and then a finish with fruit and ginger.
Conclusion: Very unique. Goes in a different direction than other Kilchomans I’ve had. It’s what you want from a single cask. It’s doing something interesting.
Overall there are some things that don’t really work. The big herbal note on the taste was jarring. The finish had a mixture of seeds and cereal that wasn’t off but was kinda like those seed crackers you get at Halloween. Or that I used to get, cause I’m old.
This is the bottle to buy.
83/100
Scotch review #904-905, Islay review #237-238, Whisky Network review #1442-1443
tomoderawhisky.ca 
Reblogged this on Toronto Whisky Society.
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