Timeline 2012
January: Kilchoman Distillery becomes sponsor of the Islay Pipe Band.
At the beginning of January 2012 the Kilchoman distillery became the new sponsor of the Islay Pipe Band. Andrew McEachern, speaking on behalf of the band, told the local newspaper Ileach: “We are delighted that Kilchoman have stepped in just as it was looking as if we would enter 2012 with no sponsorship deal. The whole band would like to thank Anthony an Cathy for their support, not only now, but from when the very first bottle of Kilchoman was auctioned for charity, resulting in a very generous donation to the band. Having had no major sponsor in 2011, finances were tight, securing this sponsorship with Kilchoman will ensure that Islay Pipe Band will compete at all major championships next season. Kilchoman manager John MacLellan, whose son Sandy is a piper, has always been a great supporter of the band. We all look forward to a fruitful partnership in the years ahead.”
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January: First batch of the ‘Publican’ barley variety processed
Kilchoman began production in January 2012 by processing the new barley variety Publican for the first time, which had been harvested at Rockside Farm in autumn 2011. Whilst the Optic variety of barley had been grown and processed from 2005 to 2010, the switch was made in 2011 to the Publican variety, which is said to be significantly more resistant to the wind and rain on Islay. For the first batch (malting started on 13 January 2012; distillation ended on 26 January 2012), there was naturally great anticipation regarding the alcohol yield and the flavour of the new variety. A good yield of 386 litres of pure alcohol per tonne of malted barley was achieved, and the flavour was now more reminiscent of tropical fruits than the strawberry notes found in the whisky produced from Optic barley.
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February: Kilchoman launches its first General Release: Machir Bay 2012
With the “Machir Bay 2012”, Kilchoman launches its first General Release. Unlike the previous limited releases, it will be permanently available in all Kilchoman markets. The edition is named after a bay not far from the distillery with one of Islays most beautiful sandy beaches. Bottled in batches, they plan to increase the age of the whiskies contained from year to year.
The first release is a vatting of 3, 4 and 5 year old 1st Fill ex-bourbon barrels, the 4 year old casks have been finished in Oloroso sherry butts for 8 weeks.
From the end of February, the first bottles can be purchased for £38.50 on the distillery’s homepage.
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9 April: First Sherry Cask Limited Edition released
On 9 April 2012 Kilchoman released its Sherry Cask Release, limited to 6,000 bottles. The whisky was matured for 4,5 years in Oloroso Sherry Butts. In the future Kilchoman would bring out a limited Sherry Cask Release every year, but it was not until the second one in 2013 that it was named Loch Gorm.
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5 to 6 May: 1st Tokyo International Bar Show
The first Tokyo International Bar Show, organised by the Nippon Bartenders Association, took place alongside the 12th edition of the renowned whisky fair Whisky Live! Japan 2012 from 5 to 6 May 2012 at Tokyo Midtown.
Anthony Wills had travelled to Japan again this year and, alongside the latest Kilchoman bottlings, presented a single cask release – bottled exclusively for the Bar Show – of a Kilchoman that had been matured for four and a half years in a fresh ex-bourbon barrel.
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23 May: The Scottish Pipe Championships
The Islay Pipe Band, sponsored by Kilchoman Distillery since the beginning of 2012, took part in The Scottish Pipe Championships in Dumbarton at the weekend. They achieved an impressive 5th place in Grade 3 and the winning plaque will be proudly displayed at the distillery.
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31 May: Fèis Ìle 2012
The Kilchoman Open Day this time is 31 May. On this day, in addition to numerous interesting events, music, food and drink, visitors can expect a whisky bottled exclusively for this occasion.
This time it is a four-year old 100% Islay from the Bourbon Barrels 100-103/2008, which has been finished for 4 weeks in an Oloroso Sherry Butt. The circulation is 439 bottles with an alcohol content of 58.5%. The low number of bottles is explained by the fact that from exactly these barrels in 2011 the Cask Strength version of the “100% Islay Inaugural Release” was already made.
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12 June: 2012 Islay Beach Rugby tournament
After narrowly missing out on the final last year, the Kilchoman team wins the 2012 Islay Beach Rugby tournament for the first time. More than 20 teams competed for the Laddie Cup, with Kilchoman beating the Oban team in a hard fought in the final. In addition, Kilchoman’s Richard Mill was named player of the tournament.
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3 July: Newly designed website and the Kilchoman Club are launched
On 3 July 2012 a newly designed website and the Kilchoman Club are launched. The Kilchoman Club will report regularly to its members about news from the distillery and offer exclusive annual special bottlings for sale.
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1 August: “International Wine and Spirits Competition”
Kilchoman was very successful at the annual “International Wine and Spirits Competition”. Kilchoman submitted three whiskies to the renowned competition and all three received “ISWC Awards”: Machir Bay 2012 and the Vintage 2006 a Gold Award, the Sherry Cask Release a Silver Award.
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August: Production of unpeated whisky
Due to a breakdown of the kiln Kilchoman produces for a short time an “unpeated” whisky from the farm’s own barley. 75 casks are filled with this rarity. Since the 6650 litre low wines and feints receiver was not laboriously emptied in between the ongoing distillation runs with peated Port Ellen malt, the result was a whisky with a slight peat smoke note, which is why Kilchoman always uses the term “unpeated” in quotation marks later.
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22 August: Start of construction of new warehouses in Conisby
To meet the ever-increasing demand for space for its casks in storage, Kilchoman started building a new warehouse complex in Conisby, on the other side of the Rhinns on Loch Indaal, on 22 August 2012.
The Kilchoman distillery had been looking for a location for a new bonded warehouse since 2009. Warehouse No. 1, built in 2005 on the distillery site, had quickly become too small. As it was not possible to build further warehouses on Rockside Farm, the search was on for a suitable site throughout Islay. This was believed to have been found in Conisby, but the planning application submitted in February 2010 was surprisingly rejected by Argyll & Bute Council on 3 October 2011 after more than a year and a half. In the meantime, the lack of storage space had become a problem that jeopardised further whisky production and Kilchoman concluded temporary contracts with several other Islay distilleries (Bruichladdich, Bowmore and even Port Ellen) to temporarily store casks in their warehouses.
As Kilchoman emphasised to Argyll & Bute Council, they would not be able to extend these agreements beyond 2012, which in the worst case could mean storing the casks on the Scottish mainland or halting whisky production. So they were very pleased that, after a long back and forth with the planning authorities, an appeal against the rejection of the planning application was successful decided on 3 April 2012.
In the future, up to 10,000 casks will be stored in two connected warehouses on an area of 2,400 m2.
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1 September: 2nd Edition of 100% Islay released
On 1 September 2012 the Kilchoman Distillery released its second edition of the 100% Islay series. As with the first edition, the whisky produced “from barley to bottle” 100% by the Kilchoman distillery is a vatting of 1st fill and refill bourbon casks, in which the whisky was matured for more than 3 years. Compared to the first edition, however, the casks are said to be somewhat older. The series has now been given beautifully designed new packaging by Breeze Creative with a highly recognisable effect.
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7 and 8 September: 13. Cöpenicker Whiskyherbst
The Berlin whisky fair Cöpenicker Whiskyherbst took place for the 13th time on 7 and 8 September 2012. Organised in 2000 by three Berlin whisky retailers, the Cöpenicker Whiskyherbst began in the courtyard of the famous town hall (the one with the Hauptmann statue), before moving to Freiheit 15, right on the banks of the Spree, in 2006 due to a lack of space.
The German Kilchoman importer Alba Import was not only represented here with a stand, but had also commissioned an exclusive Kilchoman single cask bottling for the fair. This was a just under 6-year-old Oloroso sherry hogshead, which was sold for €89.
In addition, Peter Wills, the youngest son of Anthony and Kathy Wills, led a masterclass. The restaurant boat moored at Freiheit 15, where the event took place, was absolutely packed with over 80 people.
Here are a few impressions from the fair (photos by Alba Import):
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10 September: John MacLellan named Distillery Manager of the Year
On 10 September 2012 Kilchoman Distillery proudly announced that John MacLellan had been named Distillery Manager of the Year in the »Whisky Icons 2013 award« presented by the prestigious »Whisky Magazine«. He shares the award with Eddie McAffer of Bowmore.
However, when »Whisky Magazine« announced the winners in March 2013, it turns out that Eddie McAffer is the sole winner. John MacLellan is “only” first on the so-called “shortlist”, i.e. the list of nominees who are also announced by »Whisky Magazine« in order to honour them with it. Despite all the confusion, the whole thing is a nice tribute to John’s work as distillery manager of Bunnahabhain and Kilchoman.
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22 October: First Kilchoman Club Release
On 22 October 2012 Kilchoman released the first exclusive bottling for the members of the Kilchoman Club. It was a 5 year old single cask bottling from a Oloroso Sherry Hogshead, bottled at 59.2%. Club members were able to purchase the bottle – limited to one bottle per person – for £75.00 on the Kilchoman website.
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22 October: German Tasting Tour 2012
Following the hugely successful tasting tours of 2010 and 2011, the German Kilchoman importer Alba Import had once again organised a German Tasting Tour for 2012, featuring Kilchoman’s founder Anthony Wills. The tour once again visited five German cities, but this time in the south of the country.
These were the stops on the tour:
- 22 October 2012: Whisky & Dreams, Eppertshausen
- 23 October 2012: Piccadilly English Shop, Stuttgart
- 24 October 2012: Destille FFB, Fürstenfeldbruck
- 25 October 2012: Humidor Landshut, Landshut
- 26 October 2012: Whisk(e)y Shop tara, München
There was a whole range of very interesting Kilchoman whiskies to sample:
- Kilchoman New Make
- Machir Bay 2012 Release
- 100% Islay 2nd Edition
- Vintage 2006 Release
- Cask sample Madeira cask (over 3 years old)
- Oloroso Sherry Cask Matured (nearly 6 years old)
- Small Batch Bottling for Germany – Bourbon Casks
The New Make once again caused quite a stir with its fruitiness; with the second 100% Islay Release, the Machir Bay and the Vintage 2006 releases, Anthony was able to present the distillery’s latest original bottlings. As in 2010, Anthony Wills also brought along a sample from a Madeira wine cask to showcase Kilchoman’s experimental side. At over three years old, this sample was significantly older than the one presented in 2010, which was just over seven months old.
During the break, the tasting participants also had the unique opportunity to take a so-called ‘flight’ through the distillation of Kilchoman spirit. This meant that, starting with the low wines (the product of the first distillation run), followed by the foreshots, three samples of the middlecut taken at different stages, and finally the feints, participants were able to trace the development of the distillate throughout the entire distillation process.
During the tasting tour, Alba Import once again presented a special Kilchoman release; this time, not a single-cask bottling, but the first Small Batch Bottling for Germany. Incidentally, the Oloroso sherry cask whisky mentioned above was the single-cask bottling that Alba Import had commissioned exclusively for the 13th Cöpenicker Whiskherbst..
Here are a few impressions; the photos were once again provided to us by Alba Import:
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10 to 11 November: Milano Whisky Festival 2012
The Milano Whisky Festival 2012 took place at the Milan Marriott Hotel. Kilchoman distillery manager John MacLellan conducted a Kilchoman masterclass at the festival where numerous Kilchoman whiskies could be tasted. Among them was the exclusive festival bottling of a Kilchoman matured for 5 years in a refill bourbon barrel.
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26 November: Machir Bay 2012 Gift Pack released
On 26 November 2012, just in time for the Christmas shopping season, Kilchoman released a ‘Gift Pack’ featuring the first General Release Machir Bay 2012, which had been launched at the beginning of 2012. The attractively designed folding box contained a bottle of Machir Bay as well as two Kilchoman tasting glasses by Glencairn.
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In 2012 the production volume reaches a new record level: 124,719 litres of pure alcohol were distilled and filled into 844 casks. This is an increase of 8,000 litres compared to the previous year.
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