Kilchoman Sauternes Finish

The lavish Scottish-French connection

The Kilchoman distillery is special in numerous ways: it is the most westerly distillery in Scotland; it is the first distillery to be built on Islay in more than 124 years; and it is one of the few Scottish Whisky-makers to remain indie. It was founded in 2005 by Anthony Wills, who wanted to resurrect the lost art of farm distilling. What that means is Scotch is made on-site in its entirety, from grain to bottle. 1130 days go by before the harvested barley becomes a bottle of Single Malt. Another special thing here is their peat that comes from ocean-soaked bogs, which gives Spirit its unmistakably maritime character.

This very bottle is Kilchoman’s rare annual offering. 2018 was the year of Sauternes wine, it seems, as a fine selection of only thirty casks matured in ex-Bourbon barrels first, before they relocated the amber potion to a five-month vacation in fresh Sauternes hogsheads. This expression is rich and complex with a lush embrace of famous Kilchoman smoke. It’s as if a fine sea-battered Scotsman spent a summer in Bordeaux. Also, you should probably know that only 10 thousand bottles were made.