Last month Kilchoman Distillery auctioned a single bottle from the first cask that was filled in the distillery in December 2005. All the proceeds went toward The Beatson Cancer Charity (a very worthy cause!) and the winner had to shell £7,000 to enjoy the bottle and the first 10 year old Kilchoman whisky.

However, it’s not the first bottling to use whisky from this cask. During Feis Ile 2015, Kilchoman released a special bottle to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the distillery and check this paragraph from their website:

The 10th anniversary release is a vatting of sherry and bourbon casks filled between 2005 and 2012 and includes whisky from Cask Number 01/2005, the first cask ever filled at Kilchoman.

So you can taste whisky from this cask, but mixed with other younger vintages if you can get to the distillery shop (last I heard, there were still bottles available there for £90). Let’s check it:

Kilchoman 10th Anniversary Release (2005-2015) (58.2%, 3000 bottles, £249.99)

Nose: Deep matured peat smoke, still with a very kilchoman-y profile with ashes and chimney smoke, but it’s muted and soft. Honey glazed meat on BBQ, sweet malty cereals, vanilla, sweet fruit leaning toward red fruit (sherry impact) side. Over time getting some dried fruit note and the smoke intensify a bit yet still being kept in check.

Palate: Ah, the peat is strong here (sorry, I promise no more star wars references here) with sharper and noticeable peat smoke, cured BBQ meat, grapefruits, a touch of greenery/farmy notes with dry hey note. Weaker sweet fruit and barley sugar and a dash of white pepper,

Finish: Long and creamy finish with lingering soft peat smoke, bitter grapefruits and warm fuzzy spice at throat.

Thoughts: All in all, a very nice Kilchoman whisky that paints a bright future for matured Kilchoman releases that surely will pop up in the coming few years. My only gripe is that it somewhat didn’t feel too coherent and had some discord and mismatch between the different notes on the palate, but I hope it can be attributed to the fact it’s a multi-vintage release and perhaps a too-short vatting time. Time will tell!