Kilchomania has tasted: 16 yo Sherry Single Cask 334/2006 for The Distillery Shop
On 1 June, the Kilchoman Open Day of Fèis Ìle 2023, Kilchoman released it’s first 16-year-old Oloroso sherry cask bottling as a Distillery Exclusive Release. Following the first two 16-year-old Kilchoman releases in 2022, which were matured in bourbon barrels, Kilchoman bottled the penultimate remaining Oloroso sherry butt from 2006. As the last remaining 2006 sherry butt (no. 333/2006) is to be included in the 16-year-old limited release planned for the end of 2023, the single cask release of cask 334/2006 will forever remain the oldest Oloroso sherry cask maturation of a 2006 cask.
Sixteen and a half years of maturation in a fresh Oloroso sherry butt naturally made us extremely curious. Here are our tasting notes:
Nose:
Notes of peat smoke with an ashy character (“bonfire on the beach”) are clearly perceptible but rather subtle as a first olfactory impression. It is quickly replaced by fruity notes of red berries and cherries. There are also chocolate and coffee notes. There is also some wood and furniture polish, but the fruitiness clearly outweighs the spiciness.
Taste:
Here too, the beautiful sweet fruitiness of redcurrants, strawberries and cherries. More pronounced than in the nose, clear wood notes and a dry peat smoke come to the fore. Coffee notes, dark chocolate and leather round off the whole. The addition of water intensifies the spicy notes.
Finish:
Long, smoky-dry, woody but not very bitter.
This is not one of those modern “sherry bombs” from a “wet cask” whose colour competes with Coca Cola. Even after 16 years, the whisky has not drowned in the sherry cask and shows what is possible in terms of complexity and fruitiness. The distillery character remains clearly recognisable and the fruity notes dominate the nose and taste. Perhaps too little sherry influence for some sherry whisky drinkers, but all the more recommendable for us. A clear buy!
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Cask No.: 334/2006
Cask type: 1st Fill Oloroso Sherry Butt
Date Filled: 29.11.2006
Date Bottled: 15.5.2023
Age: 16 yo
Strength: 54,8 % abv
Phenol level: 50 ppm
Number of bottles: 602
Bottle volume: 0,7 l
Bottle code: 15/5/23 23/85
Barcode: 5 060210 707033
Distribution: Distillery Shop Exclusive
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