Kilchoman Le comptoir Irlandais Small Batch – Cognac

Cask types: 70 % Bourbon Barrels / 5 % Oloroso Sherry / 25 % Cognac Cask

Age: NAS

Date Bottled: 20.9.2022

Strength: 50,6 % abv

Level of phenols in malted barley: 50 ppm

Number of bottles: 1.260

Bottle volume: 0,7 l

Bottle code: SB 20.09.22 22/155

Barcode: 5 060210 706487

Market: France

.

The French whisky shop Le comptoir Irlandais had already released three exclusive Kilchoman Small Batch bottlings from 2019 to 2021 under the name Exclusive Selection. This was the first time Kilchoman bottled Small Batch releases for a single retailer and not the national importer. Further examples of this followed in the USA and Germany.

In autumn 2022, Le comptoir Irlandais released two new Small Batch releases. What made them special were the casks used: for the first time in a Kilchoman Small Batch release, a Cognac and a Fino sherry cask were used.

In contrast to the previous three releases, this time the English series title was used and the name of the shop Le comptoir Irlandais was mentioned on the label.

With the series of Small Batch Releases for Selected Markets, launched in 2019, renamed ‘Triskele Casks’ in 2023 and discontinued at the end of 2023, Kilchoman showcased its experimental side. Each individual batch was created specifically for individual export markets and demonstrated the influence of different cask types on the maturation of Kilchoman whisky.

The basis of each bottling was an already finished Machir Bay vatting or Machir Bay Collaborative Vatting, i.e. a whisky with 46% alcohol strength, which had previously been matured for around 5 years mainly in bourbon casks and 5-15% in Oloroso sherry casks. This vatting was then married with an additional special cask – here, as already mentioned, a Cognac cask for the first time.

.