Taste Guide: Sauternes Cask

The first “Sauterne(s) Cask Release” from Kilchoman appeared on November 16, 2015 exclusively for members of the Kilchoman Club. For this 4th Club Release, three fresh Sauternes hogsheads were selected that had been filled in November and December 2010 and January 2011.

The first Sauternes Matured Limited Release then followed a year later on September 7, 2016, continuing the series of annual wine cask maturations. Distilled in late 2010 / early 2011, the whisky was matured for over 5 years in French Sauternes casks.

Anthony Wills was not entirely satisfied with this bottling, however. In his opinion, the Sauternes influence here has turned out too dominant and overlays too much the typical Kilchoman notes. For the second Kilchoman Sauternes release, he therefore opted for a Sauternes finish rather than full maturation. The “Sauternes Cask Finish Limited Release 2018” released on October 1, 2018 is a vatting of 30 bourbon barrels from 2012, which were subjected to a 5-month finish in Sauternes hogsheads.

Sauternes single cask bottlings are relatively rare. To date, only a handful of Sauternes single cask full maturations and Sauternes finishings of whisky previously aged in bourbon barrels with finishing times between 4 months and a good year, have appeared worldwide, .

Within the Small Batch series for selected markets, the concept of which is known to illustrate the influence of different “experimental” cask types on Kilchoman whisky, 2021 was the “Sauternes year”. Small Batch releases with a Sauternes content of 20% or 25% appeared in a number of countries.

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Sauternes Cask bottlings from Kilchoman (finish and full maturation)

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ReleaseCask No.DistilledBottledMaturation
Small Batch Release for The Kilchoman Club, 4th Edition740/2010, 790/2010, 28/201117.11.2010, 08.12.2010, 26.01.201109.11.2015Full maturation
Sauternes Cask Matured Release 11/2010-01/201109/2016Full maturation
Single Sauternes Cask for Delilah´s & Jack Rose26/201126.01.201105.09.2016Full maturation
Sauternes Single Cask for The Distillery Shop739/2010 17.11.2010 19.07.2017 Full maturation
Private Single Sauternes Cask for Kilchoman Invest792/201008.12.201023.02.2018Full maturation
5 yo Sauternes Hogshead for LMDW´s Islay Room902/201518.11.201526.04.2021Full maturation
Sauternes Matured Single Cask for Kilchoman Appreciation Society903/201518.11.201513.04.2022Full maturation
Sauternes Finish Single Cask for The Distillery Shop209/201224.04.201229.09.2017Finish: 4 month
Sauternes Wine Cask (Finish) for Whisk-e Ltd, Japan211/201226.04.201215.01.2018Finish: 8 month
Sauternes Single Cask Finish for Bresser & Timmer, 25th Anniversary212/201226.04.201215.06.2018Finish: 1 year
Sauternes Cask Finish 2018 Edition201225.09.2018Finish: 5 month
Sauternes (Finish) Single Cask (Uniquely Islay Series – An Samhradh 2021 #3/9) 738/201317.10.201317.06.2021Finish: 6 month
Sauternes Finish Single Cask706/201424.09.201401.07.2021Finish: 6 month
Sauternes Finish Single Cask for La Société des Alcools du Québec731/201314.10.201303.08.2021Finish
Sauternes Single Cask Finish for Taiwan732/201314.10.201309.08.2021Finish
Sauternes Single Cask Finish for Taiwan711/201424.09.201409.08.2021Finish
Sauternes Single Cask Finish for Gall & Gall The Netherlands704/201424.09.201424.09.2021Finish: 9 month
7 yo Sauternes Single Cask (Finish) – ImpEx Cask Evolution 04/2021 708/2014 24.09.2014 25.09.2021 Finish: 9 month
Sauternes Single Cask Finish – Wedding Cask for Łukasz Gołębiewski716/201424.09.201422.11.2021Finish: 11 month
Sauternes Single Cask Finish for AWAS710/201424.09.201401.12.2021Finish: 11 month
Sauternes Finish Single Cask [for Slovakia]707/201424.09.201410.01.2022Finish
Sauternes Single Cask (Finish) – Uniquely Islay Series – An t-Earrach 2022 (#3/10)730/201314.10.201301.03.2022Finish: 14 month
USA Small Batch No. 507.05.202170% Bourbon, 5% Oloroso Sherry, 25% Sauternes
Exclusive Selection No. 2 (2021)09.06.202170% Bourbon, 5% Oloroso Sherry, 25% Sauternes
Poland Small Batch No. 130.06.202170% Bourbon, 5% Oloroso Sherry, 25% Sauternes
UK Small Batch No. 3202170% Bourbon, 5% Oloroso Sherry, 25% Sauternes
Sweden Small Batch No. 228.10.202175% Bourbon, 5% Oloroso Sherry, 20% Sauternes
Genesis Stage 2: Malting 22.11.202175% Bourbon, 5% Oloroso Sherry, 20% Sauternes
French Inspiration #2 (Small Batch for France)07.04.202275% Bourbon, 5% Oloroso Sherry, 20% Sauternes