Kilchoman 100% Islay 11 yo Sherry Cask Matured Limited Edition
Since 2011, Kilchoman has released an annual 100% Islay Limited Release, presenting its flagship product line, which is slightly less peated and produced entirely on site (‘from barley to bottle’) from the farm’s own barley. These ‘single farm single malts’ are Kilchoman’s raison d’être, as they fulfil the distillery’s aspiration and pride in being a farm distillery. Since 2018, Kilchoman had moved the release date of the bottling to autumn, linking it to the end of the barley harvest for marketing purposes.
This year, Kilchoman is releasing two different 100% Islay Limited Releases for the first time. In addition to the ‘normal’ bottling released in September, which was matured entirely in bourbon casks, there is now an 11-year-old bottling from Oloroso sherry casks.
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While the early 100% Islay Limited Releases from 2011 to 2017 had always been matured exclusively in bourbon barrels, since 2018 there have been occasional releases to which a certain proportion of Oloroso sherry casks have also been added. This did not meet with unanimous approval among Kilchoman fans, as Kilchoman is still the only distillery where you can taste the subtle but noticeable differences between individual barley varieties. However, this only works with the less peated 100% Islay bottlings that have been matured in bourbon barrels. With very heavily peated whiskies or the use of more flavour-dominant casks, such as sherry, this is hardly possible. Incidentally, other distilleries that have strikingly committed themselves to the influence of terroir and barley varieties, in the past, reduced this claim to absurdity by using a colourful mixture of different cask types for their bottlings.
At Kilchomania and in personal conversations with Anthony Wills, we have repeatedly expressed our desire for the annual release to be matured exclusively in bourbon casks and suggested an additional pure sherry bottling instead of a bourbon/sherry blend. This year, Kilchoman has done just that, which we naturally welcome. Fans of sherry cask whisky now have the opportunity to taste how Kilchoman’s Single Farm Single Malt harmonises with these casks, while this year’s 15th edition of the ‘normal’ 100% Islay release introduced us to a new barley variety for the first time with Concerto.
For the 100% Islay Sherry Cask Matured Release, Anthony Wills and Robin Bignal selected 16 Oloroso sherry butts from 2012, 2013 and 2014. As always, Kilchoman sourced the casks from the Jerez-based bodega José y Miguel Martín, which produced them in its cooperage near Huelva.
Kilchoman Founder Anthony Wills wrote: “I’ve had my eye on these casks for a while, waiting for the perfect time to bottle them.”
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Bottled at 50% abv and, as always with Kilchoman, uncoloured and unchillfiltered, these casks yielded a total of 12,000 bottles. These are expected to be available from retailers – at least those in Europe – from the end of this week.
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Cask type: Oloroso Sherry Butts
Date Filled: 2012, 2013, 2014
Date Bottled: 09/2025
Age: 11 yo
Strength: 50,0 %
Level of phenols in malted barley: approx. 20 ppm
Barley variety: Publican (harvested on Rockside Farm in 2011, 2012 and 2013)
Bottle volume: 0,7 l
Number of bottles: 12.000
Bottle code: 11Y 29/09/25 25/97
GTIN: 5 060210 708801
Distribution: worldwide
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