Timeline 2019
8 April: Loch Gorm 2019 released
As in previous years, the series of annual limited releases began with Loch Gorm, the Kilchoman whisky matured exclusively in Oloroso sherry casks.
For the 2019 edition, Kilchoman Founder & Managing Director Anthony Wills selected 20 Oloroso sherry butts from the years 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009 and 2011. This meant that, for the first time, the selection also included 12- and 13-year-old casks. The release comprised 15,000 bottles, bottled as usual at an alcohol strength of 46% abv.
Anthony Wills wrote: “It has been fascinating to see first-hand how the character of our oloroso butts have developed. Recent editions of Loch Gorm have seen a coming-of-age for the range, the addition 12 and 13 year old casks add a fantastic balance and complexity.”
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8 May: STR Cask Matured Release released
On 8 May 2019, Kilchoman released a limited edition from a completely new type of cask: the STR Cask Matured Release. The STR Cask – the letters stand for Shaving, Toasting and Re-Charring – is an invention of James Swan, who unfortunately passed away far too early. As an expert and consultant, Swan had a decisive influence on the planning and operation of Kilchoman Distillery in its early years.
The inner surface of used red wine casks is first shaved to create a new surface of fresh oak wood with low red wine saturation. This leads to a more subtle red wine note of the whisky stored in this cask than is the case with unprocessed red wine casks. The inner surface is then toasted, i.e. heated over a fire made from oak chips obtained from used cask staves. This leads to a caramelisation of the sugars and vanilines contained in the fresh wood. Finally, the cask is burnt out (re-charred) to ensure a high level of flavour extraction from the wood.
Anthony Wills selected 43 STR Hogsheads for the release, which had been filled in 2012. The whisky was bottled at 50% abv.
Anthony wrote: “The STR cask balances influence from both the new and used oak to create a powerful combination of rich fruit, oak, spice and maritime peat smoke.”
The STR Cask Matured Release was named ‘Best in Show’ at the Whiskies of the World Awards in August 2019. 24 of the world’s most renowned spirits experts judged it to be the best whisk(e)y out of hundreds of entries from Scotland, the US and around the world. The WOW award followed a Score of 91 points for the STR Cask Matured Release by Dave Broom in his regular reviews for ScotchWhisky.com, a score that is rarely beaten.
Anthony Wills wrote the following about this award: “I knew that I liked the STR but that doesn’t always mean others will so I’m delighted that it’s receiving such high praise from some of the industry’s most renowned and respected experts.”
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30 May: Kilchoman Open Day at Fèis Ìle 2019
The Kilchoman Open Day at Fèis Ìle 2019, was once again one of the highlights of the year for Kilchoman fans. Once again, a tried and tested mix of tours, tastings, food and drink was on offer. Among the many highlights: a masterclass tasting “Founders Cask” with Anthony Wills and the well-known whisky author Dave Broom, where one could taste not only interesting cask samples but also spirit samples obtained by using different types of yeast, a New Make Masterclass with Robin Bignal, the “Wills` Brothers Cask Selection Masterclass” with George, James & Peter Wills, the well known programme item “Be a bottler” where you could bottle your own Machir Bay, plus “Ultimate Be a bottler”, for which a single cask was specially provided, a food pairing with French whisky specialist Martine Nouet and much much more.
The much sought-after Fèis Ìle release was this time a vatting of a fresh Bourbon Barrel and an Oloroso Sherry Butt, both over 11 years old.
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16 July: Small Batch Releases for Selected Markets presented
On 16 July 2019 Kilchoman presented its new series of Small Batch Releases for Selected Markets. Priced between the General Releases (Machir Bay and Sanaig) and the annual Limited Releases (such as Loch Gorm, 100% Islay etc.), the aim of this new series was to present the experimental side of Kilchoman and strengthen the national markets with individual bottlings for different countries.
The basis of each Small Batch Release was an already finished Machir Bay vatting or Machir Bay Collaborative Vatting, i.e. a whisky with 46% abv, which was previously matured for 3-5 years predominantly in bourbon barrels and 5-15% in oloroso sherry casks. This vatting was then married with an additional special cask.
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August: Stillhouse expansion completed
With the installation of a panoramic window in the gable of the new stillhouse, another important step in the expansion program to double production was completed. The extension of the stillhouse to double its length includes two new stills identical in size and shape, a new mashtun and a new malt transport system; six new washbacks were installed in the rear part of the old malting floor. This increases the distillery’s maximum production capacity to 480,000 litres of alcohol per year.
The expansion programme started in 2017 with the construction of the new kiln/malting floor building, which was completed in 2018, continued with the extension of the stillhouse and the installation of the new equipment in 2019 and is scheduled to conclude with the completion of the new Visitor Centre in early 2020. In parallel to this work, further warehouses are being built to accommodate the many newly filled casks. In 2018, Kilchoman was filling 38 casks per week and this number will quickly rise to over 70 casks per week, which will require significantly more storage space.
About 6 million pounds sterling have been put into the expansion program, and in Anthony Will’s words, “practically built a second distillery”. Great care was taken to ensure that the newly installed stills, mash tuns and washbacks are exact counterparts of the old ones so as not to change the character of the distillate. In addition, the new equipment should also allow experiments with different yeast types or isolated distillations with changed parameters. Obviously, there are still some innovations to be expected.
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September 2019: 9th Edition of 100% Islay released
The 2019 edition of the 100% Islay series was a vatting of 43 ex-bourbon barrels matured for over 9 years in Kilchoman warehouses. This was a whisky made from malt from the 2007 and 2009 barley harvests. As usual with the 100% Islay range, the alcohol content is 50,0% abv. The edition size is 12,000 bottles.
With the 9th edition Kilchoman returns to the pure bourbon cask maturation that distinguished all previous 100% Islay editions with the exception of 2018. As Anthony Wills himself emphasised several times, the 100% Islay, which is significantly lighter peated at 20 ppm, harmonises exceptionally well with bourbon barrels.
“Our 100% Islay spirit pairs seamlessly with ex-bourbon barrels. The lower peating level (20ppm) allows the natural floral sweetness of the spirit to shine through whilst a higher age profile adds layers of overripe tropical fruit and stewed plums whilst the high ABV makes it no lightweight. I’m delighted with how the 9th Edition has come together and as ever, I look forward to hearing people’s opinions” Anthony Wills, Kilchoman Founder & MD
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19 September: Extension work on the Malt Store
After the construction work on the new still house was finished in summer with the installation of a panorama window, there were more construction works in September. The old kiln building, which will continue to be used as a malt warehouse, has been given a new extension. As can be seen on the photo below, a popular photo motif of the distillery has changed quite significantly.
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28 September – 2 December: Meat the Peat Tour 2019
The big annual Kilchoman promotional tour in 2019 was themed ‘Meat the Peat’. James and Peter Wills covered vast distances across Asia and the USA, having swapped the legendary Kilchoman Land Rover for more modern means of transport.
Peter Wills began the tour in Japan at the end of September 2019; in October, James Wills travelled through the Midwestern United States; and then Peter Wills headed to Taiwan and China in November and December.
As with previous tours, a special Cask Strength bottling of Machir Bay was released, which was available in selected shops and bars throughout the tour. The Wills brothers also brought along a plethora of the latest limited editions, merchandise and plenty of good cheer for every single event.
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5 October 2019: Nicole Lindsay leaves Kilchoman
Nicole Lindsay, the former manager of the Kilchoman Visitor Centre, had her last day at work on 5 October 2019. She moved to Springbank Distillers Ltd as Regional Sales Manager, where she would be responsible for East Asia.
She had started working at Kilchoman in October 2015, initially in the café, then in the office and as a tour guide from 2016 onwards. In March 2017, she was appointed Visitor Centre Manager following Bryony Boyd’s move to Ardnahoe.
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16 October 2019: Vintage Release 2010 released
The fifth edition of the biennial Vintage series was a vatting of 45 casks – 42 ex-bourbon barrels and 3 Oloroso sherry butts – all of which were filled in 2010. The 9-year-old whisky was bottled at 48% ABV; as is customary with Kilchoman, it was uncoloured and non-chill-filtered. The batch comprised 15,000 bottles, which were available from the Kilchoman shop for £73.50.
Whilst the first three editions of the Vintage range were matured exclusively in bourbon casks, this was changed for the latest release to a vatting comprising predominantly bourbon casks and a few Oloroso sherry casks. For the Vintage 2010, the ratio is approximately 85 per cent bourbon to 15 per cent sherry. Since its first bottlings in 2009, Kilchoman had repeatedly experimented with combinations of bourbon and sherry casks of various ages and blending ratios; Anthony Wills emphasised that a blending ratio of approximately 85:15 results in a particularly good balance between the vanilla and citrus notes of the bourbon casks and the spicy tones of the sherry butts.
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28 October – 2 November 2019: Germany tour to mark the 10th anniversary of Kilchoman Single Malt Whisky.
On 9 September 2009, the Kilchoman distillery released its first single malt whisky, the ‘Kilchoman Inaugural Release’. To celebrate this 10th anniversary, the German Kilchoman importer ‘Alba Import’ organised a series of tastings with Peter Wills in six German cities. As was customary with previous Kilchoman marketing tours, these took place at local whisky retailers (Stefan Meier Tabakwaren, Freiburg im Breisgau – whisk(e)y shop tara, München – REWE Kornelius Golbik, Mömbris bei Aschaffenburg – Scotia Spirit, Köln – Whiskyland Oranienburg – Flickenschild Whisky & Cigars, Itzehoe).
To mark the anniversary, a special single-cask bottling was also released: the ‘Bourbon Matured Single Cask No. 10/2009 – Celebrating 10 years of Kilchoman Single Malt in Germany’. Distilled on 15 January 2009 and bottled on 23 September 2019, the whisky was therefore matured for over 10 years in a refill ex-bourbon cask.
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4 November 2019: Carol-Ann MacTaggart becomes the new manager of the Kilchoman Visitor Centre
Following the departure of Nicole Lindsay, who had managed the Kilchoman Visitor Centre from 2017 to 2019, a new manager took up her post exactly one month later. Carol-Ann MacTaggart, who is from Bowmore, attended Islay High School there and worked at the Lochside Hotel in Bowmore from 2005 to 2013. She then worked as Assistant Manager at the Bridgend Hotel before taking up her new role as Visitor Centre Manager at Kilchoman.
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28 November: Club Release 8th edition released
The 2019 exclusive bottling for Kilchoman Club members was a vatting of 3 Bourbon Barrels and one Oloroso Sherry Butt, filled between October 2006 and December 2007. The 1,242 bottles with an alcohol content of 54.3% abv were available in the online shop for £119.40 on Thursday, 28 November 2019 from 12.00 GMT and, despite the high price, sold out within a short time.
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December: Snail species named after Kilchoman
The Hungarian zoologist and apparent Kilchoman fan, Barna Páll-Gergely, has identified a land snail found in northern Vietnam in 2013 by researchers from the Natural History Museum in London as a new species and has named it after the Kilchoman distillery. The new land snail species is called Entadella kilchomani and reaches a diameter of 3.5 cm.
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