Timeline 2013
- The average cask filling rate is now about 21 casks per week, mostly fresh ex-bourbon barrels from the Buffalo Trace Distillery, but still sherry butts, too.
- February: Robin Bignal, who had already worked part time at Kilchoman from August 2010 to January 2013, becomes a full time member of the production team after Gavin Douglas had left Kilchoman.
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- 5 March: Kilchoman announces the release of the “Machir Bay 2013” Edition.
The Machir Bay range is Kilchoman’s core expression, first launched in 2012 when it won the prestigious IWSC 2012 Gold Medal – Best in Class. The release, bottled in batches, is intended to feature a slightly older whisky each year, so that Kilchoman fans can follow the development of this unique Kilchoman malt as it matures.
Machir Bay 2013 is a vatting of 4 and 5 year old ex-bourbon casks, with the 4 year old casks being finished in Oloroso sherry butts for 4 weeks prior to bottling.
John MacLellan, Kilchoman Distillery Manager wrote: “The 2013 Machir Bay displays further evolution of the 2012 release, showing more maturation flavours from the excellent cask regime and is softer and more rounded with lovely creamy mouth- filling flavours.”
Anthony Wills, Kilchoman Founder and Managing Director stated: “Sales of Machir Bay 2012 far exceeded our expectations so we hope people will be equally impressed with this year’s more mature offering.”
- First week of April: A heat exchanger for the wash still is installed. Previously, the wash still was charged with 3,000 litres of fresh wash at a temperature of 20 degrees C, and after the first distillation, 2,000 litres of hot effluents (pot ale) at a temperature of about 99 degrees C were discharged. With the new heat exchanger, the heat from the effluents is now transferred to the fresh wash, preheating it to around 70 degrees C. This shortens the boiling time from 55 to 25 minutes, which results in a significant saving of steam energy.
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- 8 April: Kilchoman launches a new product range with “Loch Gorm”. Named after Islay’s largest freshwater lake, which is located near the distillery, Loch Gorm will be Kilchoman’s only bottling to be fully matured in ex-Oloroso sherry casks. Last year, Kilchoman had already launched a first limited Sherry Cask Release as a precursor, so to speak, which was very successful. The new Loch Gorm series follows this in design.
Like Kilchoman’s other two limited edition bottlings, Machir Bay and 100% Islay, Loch Gorm will be released as a more mature version from year to year, with each bottling differentiated by the year of distillation and bottling printed on the label.
The first release of Loch Gorm has been matured for over 5 years in Oloroso sherry butts and then finished for six weeks in Oloroso sherry hogsheads to give the whisky additional depth of colour and character. This is a limited edition of 10,000 bottles worldwide.
Kilchoman founder Anthony Wills wrote: “Previous sherry matured Kilchomans have been very popular with our customers and I’m sure this will be as equally well received. It shows wonderful balance between the peat smoke and spicy rich flavours typical of sherry cask maturation.”
Loch Gorm, which was chosen at the name for the new range usually appears very dark and mysterious due to the high peat content of its water, which, according to Kilchoman, suggests an association with the dark brown colour of a whisky matured in Oloroso sherry casks.
Later in the year Loch Gorm wins a gold medal at the IWSC Awards (International Wine and Spirits Competition).
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- April: with the recruitment of Michael Barford the production team increases from 2 to 3 people.
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- April: at the 6th Vienna Whisky Fair, James Wills conducts a masterclass introducing the distillery and tasting 4 bottlings: “100% Islay”, “Machir Bay 2012” and “Machir Bay 2013” and the first “Loch Gorm” edition
- 20 to 21 April 2013: For the second Tokyo International Bar Show, an exclusive Kilchoman single cask bottling was presented again, after the four-and-a-half year old bourbon barrel of the previous year, this time it was a five year old Oloroso Sherry cask maturation.
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- 30 May: for the Kilchoman Open Day at the annual Fèis Ìle, a vatting of two 5 year old bourbon barrels (# 246 and # 247) from 2008 will be released, bottled in just over 500 bottles with an alcohol content of 60.1%.
During the Open Day there will again be a variety of programme items such as cask tastings, special guided tours, masterclasses, live music from the Islay Pipe Band. Those who were lucky enough to get a place at the so-called “Club-Tasting” even had the opportunity to taste a sip of the legendary cask No. 1 (2005).
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- 15 July: the 3rd release of the annual limited “100% Islay Edition” is released. As is well known, Kilchoman refers to whiskies that are produced from farm-grown barley and in which all production steps “from barley to botttle” take place on site as 100% Islay. It is a vatting of four and five year old 1st fill ex-bourbon barrels and therefore around one year older than the second 100% Islay release. The edition is 10,000 bottles.
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- End of September: construction of the new warehouse complex in Conisby on the other side of the Rhinns of Islay is completed. Kilchoman is now finally able to store all its casks in its own warehouses. In the meantime, casks had even been stored in warehouses at other Islay distilleries, such as Port Ellen. The storage capacity of the two-part Dunnage warehouse is 10,000 casks on 2,400 m2 – twice the amount of casks Kilchoman has filled to date. At the end of the year, all Kilchoman casks are stored there.
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- 5 – 7 October 2013: the de luxe trade fair The Whisky Show, organised by the renowned British whisky shop The Whisky Exchange, takes place for the fifth time in London’s Vinopolis. With over 2000 paying guests, a new record number of visitors is achieved. Kilchoman is not only represented at the fair with a stand mainly run by Anthony and Peter Wills, but as in 2010, they are again presenting an exclusive Kilchoman fair bottling. This time, not a three-year-old but a fresh ex-bourbon barrel that is almost five years old.
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- 7 October: official presentation of the “Vintage 2007”. This bottling, limited to 10,000 bottles, marks the first time a 6-year-old Kilchoman is launched on the market. The bottling is a vatting of fresh and refill ex-Bourbon barrels filled in 2007.
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12 and 13 October: Aqua vitae fair in Mülheim
At the Aqua vitae fair in Mülheim, Peter Wills, Sales Manager of Kilchoman and son of Anthony Wills presented among other releases the new Vintage 2007.
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21 – 25 October 2013: German Tasting Tour 2013
In 2013, Alba Import, the German importer of Kilchoman, had once again organised a German Tasting Tour – for the fourth time. As in previous years, tastings took place in October at specialist whisky retailers in five German cities. Whilst the tours from 2010 to 2012 were led by Kilchoman founder Anthony Wills, this time it was Kilchoman Distillery Manager John MacLellan who travelled around Germany.
These were the stops on the tour:
- 21 October 2013: Wein und Whisky Reifferscheid, Bonn-Mehlem
- 22 October 2013: Friedrich Bremer Weinhandlung, Göttingen
- 23 October 2013: Whiskyland-Oranienburg, Oranienburg
- 24 October 2013: Flickenschild Whisky & Cigars, Itzehoe
- 25 October 2013: Scoma, Jever
There were some very interesting Kilchoman whiskies to taste:
- Machir Bay 2013 Release
- 100% Islay 3rd Edition
- Loch Gorm 2013
- Vintage 2007 Release
- Cask sample Portwine cask
- Small Batch for Germany
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Exclusively for the tasting tour, Alba Import had once again released a Kilchoman Small Batch bottling. For the bottling named ‘Small Batch for Germany’, three five-year-old first-fill ex-bourbon casks were selected by John MacLellan. The whisky was then finished for three months in ex-Oloroso sherry butts.
During the highly entertaining evenings, distillery manager John MacLellan not only presented the Kilchoman bottlings in detail, but also provided plenty of background information, stories and anecdotes from the distillery.
Here are a few impressions; the photos were once again provided by Alba Import:
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1 and 2 November 2013: Oslo Whiskyfestival
On 1 and 2 November 2013 the biggest Norwegian whisky fair Oslo Whiskyfestival celebrated its 10th anniversary. For this occasion, an exclusive Kilchoman Single Cask Release was bottled. The whisky was matured for exactly 5 years in a fresh ex-bourbon barrel (No. 476/2008).
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4 November: 2nd Kilchoman Club Bottling
On 4 November 2013 the 2nd Kilchoman Club Bottling was released. Eight 1st fill ex Bourbon barrels filled in October 2008 were selected by Anthony Wills and John MacLellan and finished in Oloroso Sherry Butts. These casks were bottled at cask strength and yielded around 2,000 bottles. The retail price was £75.00. A little curiosity by the way: at the end of 2013, there were still a few bottles available in the distillery shop (!!).
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9 to 10 November 2013: 8th Milano Whisky Festival
On 9 and 10 November 2013 the 8th Milano Whisky Festival took place at Milan’s Marriott Hotel. Kilchoman released two exclusive single cask bottlings for this occasion. In addition to the “normal” festival bottling of a Kilchoman matured for five and a half years in a fresh ex-bourbon barrel, a five-year-old bourbon cask bottling for the Milano Whisky Festival 2013 and the Laida Weg Experience Hotel (Cask 126/2008) was released in July.
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30 November to 8 December: Artigiano in Fiera
Artigiano in Fiera (Artisans at the Fair), organised by Gestione Fiere S.p.A. (Ge.Fi.), is the world’s largest fair for handicrafts. Since 1996, it has provided an annual platform for traditional Milanese crafts from the fields of art & leisure, jewellery, delicatessen, fashion, home decor and cosmetics & care for handmade consumer goods. For the 2013 edition of the fair, an exclusive Kilchoman single cask bottling of a whisky matured for a good 5 years in a fresh ex-bourbon barrel was also released.
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December: at the end of the year Kilchoman reports a new production record: just over 130,000 litres of pure alcohol have been produced.