Kilchoman has unveiled the 11th Edition of its 100% Islay Scotch whisky. The annual range “represents the rebirth of farm distilling, where the responsibility for growing and malting barley, the foundation of single malt, is not outsourced but completed on site with skill, care and attention to detail,” says the brand.
The Kilchoman 100% Islay 11th Edition was distilled from the distillery’s 2007, 2009, 2010 and 2011 barley harvests before being matured for a minimum of 9 years in 26 bourbon barrels and seven oloroso sherry butts. The combination of lightly peated barley matured in both bourbon and sherry casks creates an intense combination of floral sweetness, layers of rich fruity character and soft maritime peat smoke.
Early editions of the 100% Islay range were almost entirely matured in bourbon barrels recently, however, the distillery has been experimenting more with sherry casks, with both the 8th and 10th editions including seven and two sherry casks respectively in the vattings. This year’s release has many similarities with the 8th edition, both having approximately 40% sherry matured whisky in the vatting.
The clear difference between the 8th and 11th edition however is the age, the 8th edition was a minimum of 6 years old whilst the youngest whisky in the 11th edition is 9 years old. This, particularly when it comes to sherry butts, adds “a huge amount of layered rich influence which balances beautifully with the lighter influence of the 26 bourbon barrels,” says the brand.
“Having tasted some excellent older sherry butts we quickly decided that they were at their peak, we then tried a few bourbon barrels of a similar age and the backbone of this edition came together very easily,” said Anthony Wills, Kilchoman Founder & Managing Director. “Our bourbon barrels and oloroso butts are incredibly consistent and this combination of roughly 40% sherry butts and 60% bourbon barrels works phenomenally with the style of whisky we produce. It allows both the citrus sweetness of our spirit and the rich fruity flavours of the casks to balance perfectly.”
Bottled at 50% ABV, the 100% Islay 11th Edition is available from your regular Kilchoman stockists around the globe beginning this week. A limited number of bottles will also be released via the distillery’s official website on Wednesday the 15th of September at 2pm Islay time.
The whisky is priced at £71.94 per 70cl bottle.
In May, Kilchoman unveiled the second of its two Spring 2021 limited edition releases, PX Sherry Cask Matured. In March, the distillery unveiled the 2021 release of its Loch Gorm whisky.
