Kilchoman Madeira Cask Matured (2015 Edition)

Nose: Strong peppery wood smoke, like the aftermath of a bushfire rather than mellow peat smoke. A softer peat gradually emerges through the haze together with a powerful winey note. These dominant aromas tend to swamp the nose. Palate: Dense smoke, blazing hot white pepper and ginger, dusty dark chocolate, peat, fortified wine, raisins, prunes. A little harsh and hard. Finish: Medium. Lingering smoke, wine and dry dark chocolate. It’s not likely that you’ll still find this anywhere, so this review is more for historical interest. In 2011 Kilchoman filled 17 first-fill ex-madeira casks as an experiment. I bought my bottle in 2016, which is the year after I believe it was bottled, so it had spent 4 years in very active and strongly-seasoned oak. That’s a lot of time for the residual fortified wine and some cask elements to be absorbed, but hardly any time for serious maturation of the spirit. I can’t help but feel that it would have worked better to give the whisky 4 years in good bourbon casks and then half a year of finishing in the madeira wood. Not surprisingly it gave me the impression of being undeveloped and awkward – a fresh young whisky covered with a dense blanketing layer of wood smoke and thick wine, but everything being disjointed, argumentative and restless. The heavy smoke seemed to improve with oxidization but it never achieved a really cohesive state with the wine element. In the end this whisky came across as a failed experiment and it’s not surprising that they have not repeated it since. At $180 it was also quite expensive. Kilchoman (who produce some whiskies that I particularly like) have since gone on to perfect their strategy with both Loch Gorm and Sanaig which are far more subtle and evolved products – buy one of those and don’t bother searching out this old Madeira expression. You’ll occasionally see a positive review but even for collectors I wouldn’t recommend it. "Adequate” : 73/100 (2.25 stars)

Back in the Kilchoman distillery i had the chance to try some very nice expressions, and one that really called my attention was the madeira matured Kilchoman, which have been finished in various different madeira casks. I often find this type of maturation to be full of flavor, that is why i can expect a lot from this dram. Bottled at 50%abv. On the nose, acid red berries, very fresh. Lemon zest with an ashy feeling. Gooseberries and toffee. On the palate; the madeira profile truly appears. Red fruits, cherries, raspberries. Creamy toffee with red fruits. Delicious. Aftertaste is ashy and "red fruity" not overly complex but delicious. Smoke and bonfire notes for a very pleasant finish. Overall, this was a fantastic whisky. I would not call it complex, it is rather simpler but the tasting and aroma notes it has, are incredibly well delivered. Super enjoyable dram, my score for it is 91 over 100.

(Good Spirits Co. Glasgow – Virtual Whisky Tasting, 18 March 2022). Nose: Smoke, wet wood, caramel, sweet and a little salty. Black pepper and plums as a subtle backnote Palate: Sweet smoke, walnuts, pepper, ginger, dark chocolate. Strangely soft, sweet smoke. Finish: Long finish. Burnt sugar, dark fruits, quite smoked, but still containing lots of dried fruit and malt loaf. Christmassy. 46 Madeira hogsheads, filled in 2016. This is an interesting dram, not bad - quite woody and smoked, with a good amount of fruit. Not particularly remarkable. Juicy, salty and ultimately drying. A decent dram. Came third out of the six drams, with 7% of the final vote for favourite of the night. 100% of those present said they enjoyed the whisky.

The forth sample of a 7 part Kilchoman (custom) sample set my wife got me for my birthday. I tried this one shortly after the Sauterne Cask Matured release. As with that one, smoke was less obvious on the nose than on the palate. Again, a round body where I found dried fruits, raisins, some hints of salt, all nicely balanced. Add a nice, long aftertaste and we have another Kilchoman that I'd purchase anytime. Not exactly sure why, but I preferred this one (very) slightly over the Sauterne Cask Maturation. Perhaps it's nice, dark color?

Wow, I really enjoyed this. The madeira blends perfectly with the smoke. I may just be a sucker for smoke, but man - Kilchoman is the most underrated distillery in Scotland