Kilchoman 2011 Madeira Cask

I seem to writing only about Islay whiskies of late. Thing is I have a pocket book full of tasting notes after my trip to the Feis Ile that I have to commit to the site. So you're going to have to bear with me for a while.

We managed to spend a fun few hours at the distillery indulging in, not only some whiskies but, chocolate desserts too. The Machir Bay brownie, I must admit, is better than any whisky produced there. Sure, that might be a slight exaggeration but every time I think of Kilchoman I think of that brownie. So draw your own conclusion.

Kilchoman have been quite busy of late adding experimental expressions to both their core and special range and the one I was most excited about getting my hands on was the young 'un matured fully in Madeira Casks.

Back in 2011 the distillery filled 17 casks which had previously held Madeira wine and set them to rest. Then in 2015 they managed to extract 6,100 bottles from those casks and put together what is, in my opinion, one of the more average Kilchomans' I have ever tasted.

My sample is from an open bottle and served at 50% ABV

Nope. Don't like it. Really spirity. Feinty spirits. Quite sharp. I'm missing the delicate robustness that I'm accustomed to with Kilchomans. Quite woody. There is some vanilla and toffee sweetness. Touch of garam masala. For some reason this one screams . And it really shouldn't given how pristine Kilchoman are with their spirit and casks.

Equally spirity. Equally upsetting. Muddle of sharp pin pricks with an almost apologetic fruitiness. Sorry, nothing to see here.

Medium to who care anymore?

Well, what can I say? I've decided I don't like these wine maturations. Especially Madeira. Laphroaig struggled with it with 2016's Cairdeas. It was not a total disaster like this but still nothing spectacular. I don't know if a few more years will do the trick or only make it worse. Honestly, I don't know if there's any stock left over to even know. And, frankly, I couldn't care less.

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