Kilchoman Sauternes Finish, Rum Finish & Machir Bay Cask Strength Reviews

Hi everyone,

Kilchoman have been putting out some new whiskies that I’ve been trying to try as I’m quite a big fan of the distillery and what they put out.

So I’ve got some small batch stuff they released this year for your enjoyment and salivation.

Kilchoman Sauternes Finish 50%

Colour: Yellow-y Gold

Body: Full

Nose: Classically Kilchoman, smoky and sweet, slightly sugary, white sugar, stone fruit, fresh plum, a little funky and sugary candies, Mezcal.

Taste: Mineral arrival, then soft with sea salt and lime, little actual smoke, creamy sweetness, then more minerals come in with lots of smoke.

Finish: Medium/Long length. Peaty and mineral, the smoke really takes over, very little sweetness by this point.

The latest of the Kilchoman small batch releases and unusual in that it’s a finish rather than a full maturation as all the others have been. Nice but doesn't quite pull off the smoke and sweetness together. Here it’s one or the other.

74/100

 

Kilchoman Small Batch Rum Finish 56.2%

Colour: Gold

Body: Full

Nose: Oh so fruity, fresh fruit and peat smoke, kiwi, lime juice and cigarette smoke, PUB LIFE memories, complete with sticky floors, literally smells like a night out. Nougart candy note and banana now too.

Taste: Soft arrival, great transition into white sugar, kiwi, tropical and smoky, quite soft for cask strength, the classic mineral notes coming in now.

Finish: Short/Medium length. More smoke kicks up here, more mineral, some hard candy- candy cane.

4 casks, 2x 2011 & 2x 2012 bottled in late 2018 for the German market. Great unique nose but the taste is a bit out of kilter and lacking some staying power. Was quite excited by this as I hadn’t seen any other Kilchoman from Rum casks… Hypefully (intentional spelling) more of this to come.

77/100

 

Kilchoman Machir Bay Cask Strength 59.8%

Colour: Light Gold

Body: Full

Nose: Very smoky, very mineral, very intense, cutting lemon citrus and creamy vanilla.

Water: Opens up with time, more creamy biscuit and vanilla blending with the smoke. More citrus and lemon too.

Taste: BIG, malty, lemon juice, mineral notes building. Powerful but lacking in the complexity department.

Water: Tequila, lime, sugar and salt, smoke. Better balanced and opens up.

Finish: Short length. Creamy with vanilla and biscuit and some smoke but it’s gone far too quick.

I preferred the normal Machir Bay I tried back in 2014. This was released as part of the European Tour 2018.

73/100

Thanks for reading!

Updated Distillery Rankings

Scotch Reviews #706-#708

Whisky Network Reviews #843-#845

Network Average: 75.1

Best Score: 94

Worst Score: 12

0-49 Terrible

50-59 Bad

60-64 Just About OK

65-69 Ok to Good

70-74 Good

75-79 Very Good

80-84 Excellent

85-89 Superb

90+ Magnificent

Full Disclosure Disclaimer: I currently work as a Brand Ambassador for Penderyn Distillery. The views expressed here are purely my own and do not reflect the views of Penderyn Distillery or The Welsh Whisky Company. I try to maintain as much objectivity as I can but feel free to take my reviews with as big a pinch of salt as you like. Furthermore, my rating scale is NOT based on a Parker type wine scoring scale or a school/college/university % or A-F grade score. You can find more on my scoring here. I apologise for any seemly low or 'bad' scores given with my system and I am sorry I can't say only nice things. Please keep in mind that I am ethically compromised and I am unable to produce 100% unbiased reviews.

Why is this here?

Claxton's: Caol Ila 2012 & Dumbarton 31 Reviews

Hi everyone,

A whisky or two from Claxton’s, a fairly new independent bottler that seems to be doing quite well. I like their very squarish looking bottles, although we all know its what’s on the inside that counts…

Caol Ila 2012 Claxtons 57.2%

Colour: Straw

Body: Full

Nose: No NMS but coastal to 11! Mineral Kilchoman-like notes all over it, wet rocks and sea salt, lemon citrus, wonderful nose. Raw and powerful.

Taste: So soft, lacking a touch of power then big mineral Kilchoman-like notes again, seashore, salty.

Finish: Short length. Doesn't have a load of staying power. Lemon.

Kilchoman not from Kilchoman. Always amazed by Caol Ila's versatility and this is a great young selection.

74/100

Dumbarton 31 Claxtons ?abv?

Colour: Gold

Body: Medium

Nose: Great, creamy, vanilla, raspberry ripple, very soft oak.

Taste: Soft, very creamy, very nicely balanced, creamy vanilla, soft raspberry.

Finish: Long length. Some spice comes in, even more balanced, spicy white chocolate. Great.

Yet to be released. Lovely older grain. I am finding that Grain peaks that about this age, retaining the freshness but finding some complexity.

78/100

Thanks for reading!

Updated Distillery Rankings

Scotch Reviews #665-#666

Whisky Network Reviews #798-#799

Network Average: 75.1

Best Score: 94

Worst Score: 12

0-49 Terrible

50-59 Bad

60-64 Just About OK

65-69 Ok to Good

70-74 Good

75-79 Very Good

80-84 Excellent

85-89 Superb

90+ Magnificent

Full Disclosure Disclaimer: I currently work as a Brand Ambassador for Penderyn Distillery. The views expressed here are purely my own and do not reflect the views of Penderyn Distillery or The Welsh Whisky Company. I try to maintain as much objectivity as I can but feel free to take my reviews with as big a pinch of salt as you like. Furthermore, my rating scale is NOT based on a Parker type wine scoring scale or a school/college/university % or A-F grade score. You can find more on my scoring here. I apologise for any seemly low or 'bad' scores given with my system and I am sorry I can't say only nice things. Please keep in mind that I am ethically compromised and I am unable to produce 100% unbiased reviews.

Why is this here?

Kilchoman Port Cask 2018 & 2012 PX Single Cask Reviews

Dear everyone interested in Kilchoman in Port casks. Here is my review of the new one.

I never tasted the old version, so I don’t have a reference point I’m afraid but I managed to get a sample at a recent show and then tasted it at home.

Kilchoman Port 2018 50%

Colour: Pinkish Amber

Body: Full

Nose: Similar style to the Madeira actually. This meaty blackberry note hits first, plum, some smoked blueberry (if that's a thing), vanilla ice cream, toasted marshmallow, not a huge amount of smoke here either. Autumnal wet leaves and Turkish Delight. There's some chalk and rubber a bit out of place.

Taste: Soft and sweet, lots of vanilla, blackberry, blueberry then big mineral smoky Kilchoman beast, again really reminds me of the Madeira with this ashy meaty fruit, plum, cola bottles, mulled wine with cinnamon, some slightly acrid burnt rubber into the finish.

Finish: Long length. Juicy first with juicy blackcurrant, some spice and smoke staying with late chocolate.

2014-2018. As with the Madeira or the Longrow Red's, I'm in two minds about this one. On the one hand it’s a great fruity smoky beast, on the other it’s never quite in balance.

80/100

How about another Kilchoman from some random part of the world? (This is DWR after all!)

 

Kilchoman 2012 Single Cask PX Finish for The Malt Vault 57%

Colour: Amber

Body: Medium/Full

Nose: Sweety shop nose, ashy smoke, orange and a herbal Mezcal note (been tasting some Mezcal recently so it’s cool to find in a whisky), cherry sweets.

Taste: Soft, sweet and spicy. Mineral, heavy smoke, black pepper, honey and raisin, malt, a Mezcal note here too which is cool.

Finish: Medium/Long length. Very soft, mineral smoke, cherry.

2012-2018, a PX finished single cask for the Malt Vault in Utretch, Netherlands. One of the older PX finished Kilchomans I’ve seen. The sweetness is dampening the complexity in my opinion though.

79/100

Distillery: Kilchoman

Average Score: 78.6

Distillery Ranking: 15th/ 60 places

Up/Down: 16>15 (Up 1)

Thanks for reading!

Scotch Reviews #621-#622

Whisky Network Reviews #739-#740

Network Average: 74.9

Best Score: 94

Worst Score: 12

0-49 Terrible

50-59 Bad

60-64 Just About OK

65-69 Ok to Good

70-74 Good

75-79 Very Good

80-84 Excellent

85-89 Superb

90+ Magnificent

Full Disclosure Disclaimer: I currently work as a Brand Ambassador for Penderyn Distillery. The views expressed here are purely my own and do not reflect the views of Penderyn Distillery or The Welsh Whisky Company. I try to maintain as much objectivity as I can but feel free to take my reviews with as big a pinch of salt as you like. Furthermore, my rating scale is NOT based on a Parker type wine scoring scale or a school/college/university % or A-F grade score. You can find more on my scoring here. I apologise for any seemly low or 'bad' scores given with my system and I am sorry I can't say only nice things. Please keep in mind that I am ethically compromised and I am unable to produce 100% unbiased reviews.

Why is this here?

Chichibu 2012 Peated for TWE Review [London has Fallen]

Hi everyone,

Chichibu is a distillery that deserves hype. It deserves huge fans. It’s a massively impressive whisky. Especially at cask strength.

I hadn’t tried any heavily peated Chichibu yet, and failed to talk my way into trying the Whisky Live Paris exclusive, so when I saw this one selected for The Whisky Exchange Show, I dived on it.

Chichibu 2012 Peated for TWE 63.2%

Colour: Gold

Body: Full

Nose: Great nose. Soft malty peat, light fresh fruit, tropical peat similar to a medium aged Laphroaig (18-20yo).

Taste: Great arrival, fresh fruit and spice develop. Lovely balance. Tropical and peaty, a little spicy ginger.

Finish: Long length. Dry and mouth watering, slightly tropical and peaty to end.

Bottled for The Whisky Exchange Show 2017. Even better than the 9yo from last year’s show, and really shows off Chichibu’s incredible spirit at an amazing balance for such a young whisky.

85/100

Thanks for reading!

Japanese Review #16

Whisky Network Review #547

Network Average: 74.3

Best Score: 92

Worst Score: 22

0-49 Terrible

50-59 Bad

60-64 Just About OK

65-69 Ok to Good

70-74 Good

75-79 Very Good

80-84 Excellent

85-89 Superb

90+ Magnificent

Full Disclosure Disclaimer: I currently work as a Brand Ambassador for Penderyn Distillery. The views expressed here are purely my own and do not reflect the views of Penderyn Distillery or The Welsh Whisky Company. I try to maintain as much objectivity as I can but feel free to take my reviews with as big a pinch of salt as you like. Furthermore, my rating scale is NOT based on a Parker type wine scoring scale or a school/college/university % or A-F grade score. You can find more on my scoring here. I apologise for any seemly low or 'bad' scores given with my system and am sorry I can't say only nice things. Please keep in mind that I am ethically compromised and am unable to produce 100% unbiased reviews.

Why is this here?