Kilchoman Private Cask 95/2012 for a Privat Owner (Mark Unsworth, Islay Studios)

On 20 May 2022, the well-known photographer Mark Unsworth, owner of the photo studio “Islay Studios” in Bridgend, released his private cask bottling of Kilchoman Hogshead No. 95/2012.

The special feature of this bottling lies above all in the fact that it is only the second case known to us (after the Sherry Quarter Cask 262/2010) where Kilchoman has filled a foreign cask with Kilchoman New Make and matured it in the Kilchoman warehouses. In the Private Cask Programme of the early years and the rare later occasions when private individuals were able to purchase/auction a cask of Kilchoman, the casks were always Kilchoman’s own.

Mark Unsworth’s cask began its career as a 1st Fill Oloroso Sherry Hogshead at Bruichladdich (No. 315/2001), where it was filled in 2001 and 10 years later sold as “The Queen of the Moorlands. Rare Cask XXXVII”.

It was then transported to Kilchoman and filled on 12 March 2012 – now as a 2nd Fill Oloroso Hogshead – with New Make of 50 ppm peat level. For the next 10 years, it was continuously stored in Kilchoman’s Conisby warehouses. Then, on 13 May, it was bottled at a cask strength of 54.9%. The yield was 297 bottles.

The bottles can be purchased at Islay Studios for £140, with postal delivery only available within the UK.

Kilchoman single cask bottlings of a refill oloroso sherry cask, especially in this age range, are extremely rare and promise distinct sherry tones, but usually do not yet mask the distillery character, as is often the case with older first fill oloroso casks. We are therefore very excited about this bottling!

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Pictures by Mark Unsworth

Cask No.: 95/2012

Cask type: 2nd Fill Oloroso Sherry Hogshead

Date Filled: 1.3.2012

Date Bottled: 13.5.2022

Age: 10 yo

Strength: 54,9 % abv

Phenol level: 50 ppm

Number of bottles: 297

Bottle volume: 0,7 l

Distribution: Islay Studios, Bridgend

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