Kilchoman Port Cask Matured (2018 Edition)

It seems every time I get back into the swing of things, something else comes along to knock me off my stride. It’s been 2 weeks since my last review, no thanks to a cold, bedroom painting/remodeling and fresh ink on my arm that kept me from any alcohol for a few days. Well I’m back at it, going through my backlog of samples. Came across this port matured Kilchoman that @LeeEvolved sent me months ago, so I figured why not? Bottled at 50% ABV, non chill filtered and natural color of a dark orange with ruby red hues, almost pink at times. This is the 2018 release. The nose is all sweet smoky goodness. Sugary candy covered in dirt and ashes. Grilled plums and peaches, sweet BBQ sauce and BBQ chicken. Strawberry lemonade, lemon zest and sweet port wine notes. Slight medicinal/iodine notes, not un-Laphroaig like. Wine soaked oak and salty sea air. Peaches & cream, vanilla custard. Light mulling spices, salted chocolate with a pinch of cayenne pepper. Peat, dark honey, butter toffee and caramel. Buttery and a touch sulfuric but nothing to detract from the experience. A quick hit of maple at the bottom of the glass. Water tones down the smoky notes and brings up the fruitiness a bit and more vanilla. It’s a touch sour though and is better without water. The palate is sweet and smoky with plenty of power to it. More sweet than smoky. Peppered beef jerky, tangy BBQ sauce. Slightly tannic oak but still enjoyable. Sweet port wine, but not as thick as you might expect. Damp ashes, campfire smoke. Very salty, dark chocolate and toffee. Grilled plums and peaches. Quite good, if not a little simplistic. Water has the opposite effect as the nose. It was less sweet and the smoky notes seemed turned up a notch. Thinner overall though, best left at bottle strength. A medium to full bodied mouthfeel that is oily, mouthwatering and mouth coating. The finish is long with ashy peat, smoky BBQ sauce and lightly fruity. A pretty good port matured Islay. Nothing unpleasant about it to me. It falls a bit too heavy on the sugary sweet side for my liking (I prefer savory sweet), but it’s a minor fault. Definitely a fall/winter dessert dram. It’s about what I would expect from Kilchoman, which is quality at a slightly higher than expected price. I believe Lee paid around $90 and I think that’s about $10 too much. A solid 4, which is 2 full points higher than Lee scored it...what happened Lee? Cheers

Kilchoman tasting evening at The Oak Barrel, Sydney, June 25th 2019: Whisky #5 Nose: The port note is instantly detectable with red berries and grapes clearly apparent along with rose-water and hibiscus tea. The Kilchoman distillate character is there but obscured by the sweet cask influence. As it sits and rests an earthy peat smoke develops along with a tinge of orange. Palate: Sweet, fruity and spicy arrival – dark honey, strawberry, cherry, plum, red grape, cinnamon (very faint), Turkish delight. The sweetness continues to build as it develops, with the focus squarely on the cask. It is balanced (but see below) and rounded with a spicy tang. Very supple and satisfying texture. Finish: Medium. Raisin fruitcake aftertaste with a little spicy smoke. Although I said the palate is balanced this needs more explanation because there are two clearly defined layers at work in this whisky. The foundation distillate (which is balanced and satisfying in its own right) and the very sweet and fulsome cask influence. Smoky whisky can work well with a hefty PX, port or sweet wine influence and when these elements all integrate you get something that is greater than the sum of the parts. However if the two components of distillate and cask don’t cooperate so well you are left with two easily distinguishable, and often competing, layers. That’s the case here. This does not necessarily produce bad whisky, but it is idiosyncratic. For those who have a sweet tooth and enjoy sherry-bombs or a heavily fruity finish to their whisky this could be just the thing. On the other hand if you prefer a dry profile or a balance between sweet and savory influences the whisky will seem unbalanced and over-sweet. Water does bring out more distillate floral notes on the nose. It also melds the palate a little and brings out a tiny hint of licorice, which for me was an improvement. One thing the port layer does do well here is modulate the smoke and keep it as a more subtle background note. I enjoyed tasting it, but it was too sweet for my palate and it's not a whisky I’d bother to buy. “Good” : 83/100 (3.5 stars)

Kilchoman. I was first introduced to Kilchoman through their Machir Bay and was thoroughly impressed by this Islay newcomer. The Sanig and Loch Gorm are impressive in and of themselves. Port finished whiskies are can be tricky. Either too fruity or sparsely influenced. Done right, and the sweet and spicy balance can be rewarding. Throw in some Smokey peat and maritime brine and you may find nirvana. The color is shiny copper penny with a purplish hue. A light, sweet smoke greets you and draws you in. Cotton candy melted on hickory smoked bacon. The port cask influence comes through providing the fruits to the sweet smoke. Plumbs, strawberry jam, orange marmalade, apples and raisins. As you keep drawing aromas, more sweetness melds with the aromas. Vanilla, milk chocolate, toffee and salted caramels. The maritime quality always present which makes a sweet and savory nose. A small amount of baking spice provides a slight counter to the sweetness. Cinnamon, allspice, black pepper and nutmeg. Not distracting but synergetic. When you draw this onto the palate, a bit of confusion takes hold. The complex, full nose is juxtaposed by a palate that is thin and light. Initially, a spicy sensation of pins and needles is felt. Peppered oak smoked meat (pastrami?) with thin flavorings fruity flavorings. Grapes, vanilla, grilled stone fruits with dark chocolate shavings. The palate is nicely left with a sooty, charcoaled, ashy flavors, but not overtly so, with drying oak tannins. This finish fades slowly for what seems everlasting. One of the most complex and drawing noses that can be nosed all day. The thinness of the body and the comparatively sparse flavors is somewhat of a let down, in the sense that I expected and wanted more flavors, given the complex nose. The sweetness, smoke and spice are nicely balanced. All in all, a well crafted scotch that doesn’t quite reach nirvana. However, this may make a fine Smokey summer sipper. Thanks @LeeEvolved for sharing. Another good whisky by Kilchoman. [87/100][Tasted: 7/25/19]

To say I was excited to get my hands on the newest Kilchoman: Port Cask Matured was an understatement. I had visions of the Laphraoig 2013 Cairdeas and BenRiach Solstice (both 4.5-5 star drams) dancing in my head. Every Kilchoman I’ve tried to date has been great to fantastic. I’ve been extolling how the whisky world will be a better place once these guys get some 12-15 year juice to market, blah blah blah. Well... The 2018 version of the Port Cask, the second edition I believe, is not a very good malt. I’ve drank craft beer for well over a decade and I have grown to love sour beers. When a brewery accidentally bottles a sour that hasn’t finished fermenting it develops diacetyl acid and ruins the flavor of the beer. It leaves behind a fake, popcorn butter flavor that overpowers everything else. I get this flavor in this new batch of Kilchoman Port Cask. It’s so buttery it actually masks most of the traditional, Kilchoman smoke (which is one of the best on Islay IMO). I get some wine sweetness on the very backend of the palate, but it’s all laced with that butter and rich toffee flavor and is almost undrinkable. I finished the bottle but it was mostly done chasing it with better whisky, as to wash the flavor away. This is bottled at 50% ABV and cost me just under $90 to get a bottle shipped in from the UK. I believe it’s headed to North America by the end of summer, but I recommend you leave it sitting on the shelf. It’s just not good. It hasn’t ruined future Kilchoman for me, I hope it’s just a blemish on their excellent track record so far. Spend your hard earned money elsewhere- buy a Loch Gorm or Machir Bay instead. 2 stars. Cheers.

I'm copying this note over from the other page because the release that I tried was this 2018 edition. Feis Ile 2018 - Kilchoman update no. 5. I grabbed a sample of this from the distillery shop and was excited to try it out. In fact, it was the one I was most excited to taste. Unfortunately, a bit of a letdown here. The port finish doesn't add what I would have expected to Kilchoman's base spirit. The nose remains dry and earthy, with little sweetness: mushrooms, rice, odd savory notes abound. The palate is sweet, but the port leans toward adding medicinal sweet flavors, akin to Laphroaig. Again, unexpected. The finish features a burgeoning sweetness that combines with cinnamon spice and barley. The port tamped down the smoke in this release but really added some wild card flavors rather than the dark, rich fruits I anticipated. It's a strange dram, not unpleasant, but too surprising in odd ways to love while drinking. In comparison, the distillery exclusive PX cask showcased the crackling synergy possible with sweet and peat flavors. I'm even more disappointed because I tried the 2014 edition of this last year, and it was a solid 4-star dram. The nose was a dead ringer for Lagavulin 16 underneath an initial, heavy layer of ethanol, with cinammon, stone fruit, creek brulee, and rich smoke. The first sips were very salty, a little too much so, but then grew into the same smoke and stone fruit combination. The 2014 Port had a mild finish given the proof, with a little astringency, charred hickory, and guava.

After sampling two rum finished whiskeys on a recent visit to the Copper and Oak in NYC, I decided to shift gears for my third and final dram, selecting the Kilchoman Port Cask Matured. I've read the previous reviews here, many rather middling.  Nevertheless, Kilchoman combined with port summoned me like the Sirens' song.  While I didn't find myself dashed on the proverbial rocks, I quickly understood the ambivalence.   Dram by dram, I've become a big fan of this distillery.  Kilchoman whiskies are robust and bold, but like a great blues guitar solo, there's plenty of space between the notes.  It makes for a lovely drinking experience.  That space is not present with the Port Cask Matured.  The palate comes across as distinct and competing bombs of sweetness and smoke that bleed all over each other.  Nuance and complexity suffer accordingly. I wouldn't say this is a bad whisky.  But unlike  the Kilchomans I love, it doesn't present as an exceptionally well crafted dram.