Kilchoman announces two festive releases - including a first for Islay distillery

Kilchoman announces two festive releases - including a first for Islay distillery

Kilchoman unveils festive offerings of Fino Sherry Matured and Machir Bay Cask Strength

14 October 2020

Islay's Kilchoman Distillery has announced its second autumn release: its first sherry cask-matured expression to go on global sale.

The limited-edition Kilchoman Fino Sherry Matured has spent its full maturation in fino casks previously used by Bodega Miguel Martin in Spain – 11 fresh butts and one refill butt. Bottled at 46% ABV, the release has been limited to 10,500 bottles worldwide.

It follows other limited-edition expressions for Kilchoman using experimental cask maturations, including full-term maturations in port, madeira, Sauternes and STR cask types.

Kilchoman's core range of whiskies includes oloroso sherry in the maturation, a medium-dry sherry which it says gives a range of cooked and dried fruit influence to the whiskies. By contrast, the distillery says that fino - the driest type of sherry - lends green apple notes that marry with its whiskies' citrus, cooked fruit and maritime peat smoke notes.

Anthony Wills, Kilchoman founder and managing director, said: "We have previously bottled a fino sherry-matured release for our Kilchoman Club members, but this will be a first global release. It’s exciting to have a new cask type available for the Kilchoman followers to taste; the fresh green apple character certainly adds a new element to what we’ve released before."

The Fino Sherry Matured comes alongside the release of a limited edition of Kilchoman's Machir Bay whisky: the Cask Strength Festive Edition. Rather than the standard strength of 46% ABV, this edition of Machir Bay is bottled at cask strength of 58.6% ABV and should put a warming fire in your belly this winter.

Founded in 2005, Kilchoman Distillery sits nestled amongst the traditional buildings of Rockside Farm on the north-west coast of Islay. Known as Islay’s farm distillery, it has barley fields stretching west to the shores of Machir Bay and the Atlantic Ocean.

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