US West Coast Tour 2017 – a Review

22. September 2017 Hans-Peter Neumann

As is well known, the major Kilchoman marketing tour of 2017 took place along the US West Coast. Starting in Southern California, George and Peter Wills, accompanied by Sam Filmus and Chris Uhde from the US importer ImpEx Beverages Inc – and, for the final leg of the tour, also by Anthony Wills – travelled over 1,500 miles northwards from Los Angeles to Seattle in a hired Land Rover Discovery.

During the tour, they hosted 16 major Kilchoman tastings and countless other events, such as ‘meet & greets’ in whisky shops, seminars for the United States Bartender’s Guild and staff at the Portland-based company Vinum Importing, and even a Kilchoman cocktail competition. A visit to the Westland Distillery in Seattle, on the other hand, was more of a sightseeing trip.

Peter and George have been posting plenty about the tour on social media over the last few days, and we’ve also received numerous photos from Sam Filmus. We’d therefore like to take this opportunity to give our readers a little insight into the tour using some of these pictures. An overview of the individual stops on the tour can be found here.

*Before the tour began a few tourist photos in front of the Hollyywood sign were an absolute must.*

*4 September: Kick-off in LA. On the right, the first tasting at the Seven Grand Whisky Society.*

*5 September: Tasting at the Everson Royce Bar, LA.*

*6 September: Tasting at The Daily Pint, Santa Monica. Right: Chris Uhde in front of an impressive selection of Kilchoman bottles.*

*6–7 September: Left: Group photo outside The Daily Pint, Santa Monica; Right: Tasting at Wades Wines, Westlake Village.*

*10 September: Tasting at Beer Baron, Pleasanton*.

*11 September: Kilchoman Cocktail Competition at Paper Plane, San Jose*.

*12 September: First Tasting witt Anthony at the Multnomah Whiskey Library, Portland*.

*13 September: Seminar at Vinum Importing, Portland*.

*14 September: Anthony Wills took the wheel for the final long journey from Portland to Seattle.*

*14 September: “meet & greet” at Downtown Spirits in Seattle*.

*15 September: “meet and greet” in the Joli Restaurant Seattle*.

*A visit to the Westland Distillery in Seattle.*