Taste Guide: Blanc de Blancs Champagne Cask
In 2022, Kilchoman bought 40 Blanc de Blancs casks from Champagne for the first time and used them for both full maturations and finishings.
Blanc de Blancs (literally "white from white" in French) refers to a wine made exclusively from white grapes. In the Champagne wine-growing region, where the term originally comes from, this is a sparkling wine produced almost exclusively from Chardonnay grapes. This contrasts with Blanc de Noirs, which is made only from red grapes. This is cheaper, as Chardonnay grapes are considerably more expensive. However, a Blanc de Blancs is also much easier to age and has the potential to develop very favourably over time.
At Fèis Ìle 2023, participants in the masterclass with Anthony Wills on 1 June 2023 were able to taste a Blanc de Blancs finish (cask no. 1110/2016) for the first time.
The world’s first Blanc de Blancs Cask Finish bottling was released in July 2023 as part of the Uniquely Islay Series – An Samhradh 2023 in Germany (1111/2016). The release for the Alaska-based beer, wine and spirits chain Brown Jug (1102/2016) was bottled a few days earlier, but was not released until August 2023. The 2nd Blanc de Blancs Cask Finish for the USA followed at the end of August 2023 with the bottling of cask no. 1108/2016 in the renowned ImpEx Cask Evolution Series.
In October 2023, two more Blanc de Blancs Single Cask Finish bottlings were released: one in the Canadian province of Québec (1109/2016) and one for the Italian market (1100/2016).
A wider audience was first introduced to a Kilchoman Blanc de Blancs cask finish with the release of the 12th Kilchoman Club Edition on 6 December 2023.
Although the cask (1107/2016) was bottled for the Kilchoman Distillery Shop on 15 May 2023, it only appeared on the shelves of the Visitor Centre on 16 November 2023 as the seventh Blanc de Blancs Finish release of 2023.
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Previous Blanc de Blancs cask releases by Kilchoman:
| Release | Cask No. | Filled | Bottled | Maturation |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Blanc de Blancs Single Cask Finish for Beija-Flor – Italian Cities: Milan | 1100/2016 | 26.11.2016 | 01.09.2023 | Finish: over 1 year |
| Blanc de Blanc(s) Single Cask Finish for Brown Jug, Alaska | 1102/2016 | 26.11.2016 | 25.05.2023 | Finish: 9 months |
| Blanc de Blanc(s) Single Cask Finish for The Distillery Shop | 1107/2016 | 26.11.2016 | 15.05.2023 | Finish: 9 months |
| Blanc de Blancs Single Cask Finish – ImpEx Cask Evolution 02/2023 | 1108/2006 | 26.11.2016 | 10.07.2023 | Finish: 11 months |
| Blanc de Blancs Single Cask Finish pour Le Québec | 1109/2016 | 30.11.2016 | 30.06.2023 | Finish |
| Blanc de Blancs Single Cask Finish (Uniquely Islay Series – An Samhradh 2023, #3/10) | 1111/2016 | 30.11.2016 | 05.06.2023 | Finish: 9 months |
| Small Batch Release for The Kilchoman Club, 12th Edition | 1101/2016 & 1110/2016 | 26.11.2016 & 30.11.2016 | 30.11.2023 | Finish: 14 months |
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