Kilchoman Ruby Port Quarter Cask 19/1992 for Miler Spirits
In 2019, Kilchoman began using Ruby Port Quarter Casks for whisky maturation for the first time. Not only were these 100-liter casks used to finish the famous Am Bùrach release, which was the result of an accident, but from 2020 onwards, two dozen Ruby Port Quarter Cask Finishings of whiskies previously matured in Bourbon Barrels were released worldwide.
This year, Kilchoman released its first fully matured Refill Ruby Port Quarter Casks. Three of these were released as exclusive bottlings for the Kilchoman Days held in selected European countries to mark the 20th anniversary of the Kilchoman Distillery (namely for the Kilchoman Days in Nuremberg, Dortmund, and Edinburgh). The German Kilchoman importer Hanseatische Weinhandelsgesellschaft Bremen sold another cask to Weinhof Brettel in Mitwitz, Upper Franconia, where the bottling was released in November.
Now another of these casks has been released in Poland for Miler Spirits. While the whisky in the above-mentioned sister casks was matured for almost 6 years in Refill Port Quarter Casks, the bottling for Poland is slightly older, namely exactly 6 years old.
Polish whisky lovers will certainly find it interesting to compare this bottling with the Kilchoman White Port Finish Single Cask for The M&P Cask Collection Club, released almost simultaneously by the Polish importer M&P Pavlina.
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Cask No.: 1992/2019
Cask type: Refill Ruby Port Quarter Cask
Date Filled: 27.11.2019
Date Bottled: 28.11.2025
Age: 6 yo
Strength: 56,3 % abv
Level of phenols in malted barley: 50 ppm
Number of bottles: 135
Bottle volume: 0,7 l
Barcode: 5 060210 709211
Bottle Code: SC 28/11/25 19/1993
Market: Poland
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Our friend, Polish whisky blogger and Kilchoman expert Paweł Degustuje, has already tasted the bottling.
Here are his tasting notes:
First of all, I would like to emphasize that in order to be as objective as possible (not only for the sake of owner Tomek Miler, but also with regard to the Kilchoman bottling itself), I tasted the bottling three times before writing down my tasting notes: none of them differed significantly from each other.
Without further ado:
Nose: Intense and, after accomodation, gradually red fruits, refreshing orange/lemon; red fruits, chocolate-covered cherries, hazelnuts, intense orange, Hungarian plums, raisins, orange, strawberry jam, lemongrass, toffee cream—all wrapped in a smoky campfire finish. 87/100 points
Taste: Heavy red fruits – very oily and intense. Lots of red fruits and jam – strawberries, blackberries, some blueberries, chocolate-covered cherries, nuts; on a base of cocoa cream and earthy peat that tingles the palate. 89/100
Finish: A long-lasting, delicate aftertaste on the tongue. Creamy aromas combine with red fruits on a base of earthy peat notes. 88/100
Conclusion: I had very high expectations for this bottling. Of the nearly 500 Kilchomans I’ve tried so far, this is the first Ruby Port fully matured in a quarter cask.
My expectations were met, although I had hoped for a wow effect of at least 90 points on the nose. But let’s be honest—it’s still a bottle for PLN 550. So the price-performance ratio is very good.
Rating: 87/89/88. From a Kilchoman fan’s perspective, I would give it 89 out of 90 points. However, as mentioned earlier, I tried to be as impartial as possible – in fact, I bought the bottle incognito. 🙂
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