My next review is on that triggered a few memories. It was my 1st whisky tasted at a WhiskyBrother tasting (Islay smoke machines back in 2013), and co-incidentally it was the last dram I had last night at WhiskyBrother to celebrate the shops 2nd birthday. Of interest is that Kilchoman was the first new distillery to be built on the remote island of Islay for well over a century. Currently another distillery is being built on Islay, Gartbreck.
Whiskey: Kilchoman Machir Bay 2012, 46% ABV
Region: Islay, Scotland
Style: Single Malt
Age: NAS
Machir Bay is a sherry-finished malt from Islay’s (at this stage) newest distillery, Kilchoman. This was released in 2012 and is made up of 60% 3 year old, 35% 4 year old and 5% 5 year old whisky. They all were aged in first fill bourbon barrels, before vatting and finishing in an Oloroso sherry butt for eight weeks.
Colour: Pale straw with medium to thick legs.
Nose: An Islay seaside feel of salty sea spray and seaweed. Has sweet peaty smoke with slight black pepper tones some brininess and citrus fruits (mostly freshly squeezed limes and lemons to me). Nose is clean, crisp and very fresh. Time in glass gives you even more smokiness.
Palate: Follows nicely from the nose with smoke, citrus, salty and a spicy mix of wood/oak spice and freshly cracked black pepper (almost a sweet and spicy peatiness to me). The addition of water softens the smoke and makes it sweeter – vanilla custard. A fairly complex palate that has a smooth mouth feel to it.
Finish: Medium tending to long while being a bitter sweetness (like a very dark chocolate) with a final spiciness at the end.
Overall: As my first introduction to Kilchoman I really enjoyed it and subsequently have tried a few others and can say that overall the offering from Kilchoman is of a very high standard. I particularly enjoyed the slight sweetness that this one brings to the range.
My Score: 85
The Smoky Dram 
Kilchoman seems like a wonderful distillery. I’ve only tried a couple of them but they have always impressed me. There are a couple of bottles at my favourite bottle shop her in Tassie (this one and the 100% Islay) and I’ve always eyed them off. They’re quite expensive so I’ve always decided against it. Coming up to Christmas, maybe I could justify it…
Keep on waffling,
Nick
Thanks Nick
They really do make excellent whisky and there are many of my fellow SA whisky lovers that swear by them.
Also, if you cannot treat yourself at Christmas, then when can you (besides your birthday of course)
Keep dramming
Edward