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Kilchoman Red Wine Cask 2012

Scottish Bacalhau

5 185

@cricklewoodReview by @cricklewood

31st Jan 2020

0

Kilchoman Red Wine Cask 2012
  • Nose
    21
  • Taste
    23
  • Finish
    21
  • Balance
    20
  • Overall
    85

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Distribution of ratings for this: brand user

I think it would be a fair to say that Kilchoman is the current darling of Islay, it's rather impressive if you consider they've only been in operation for 15 years. The Jim Swan production techniques & good quality cask management are certainly part of the equation. I hope we will see the spirit and releases maintain that quality on longer aging. That is if any of us will be able to afford a 20 yr old version of Kilchoman when it does eventually roll around.

This edition was fully matured in Douro Valley red wine barriques, casks were laid down in 2012 and bottled in 2017.

Nose: Big milky almost latex like peat, burnt grain, ashy. Cooked berries, ginger and horseradish. A greasy feeling of cooked fat, chilies and pickled plum.

Palate: Oily, heavy peat, stuffy smoke and then flips to tart berries. Spices and a feeling of medicinal roots ginseng/burdock not as sweet as I anticipated. Loads of burnt grain it's oily mouth coating.

Finish: A lingering fruitiness along with a kind green herbal woody note and ginger (is this some French oak wine barrique?) there's a touch of vanilla that keeps it creamy and round.

Notes: The nose on this is tight but this is a fault I find in many Kilchoman, it takes a while to tease out it's merits but the overall effect of the wine maturation wasn't to my liking at first.

I'm finally enjoying the final 1/2 of the bottle but I still feel a certain dissonance between the ashy coastal elements and the spicy/herbal/green wine casks. I was glad to have purchased this but would not go on a quest for another bottle. 

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1 comments

@Victor
Victor commented

@cricklewood thank you for your review. I need to taste this whisky for myself.

Horseradish nose? Curious. I like horseradish in my cocktail sauce. Can't say I want horseradish in the nose of my whisky. Bacalhau? Bacalhau has its fans, but I am not one of them.

Why do you suggest that Kilchoman is the current Islay 'darling'? Online chatter? I never pay attention to that stuff, except for this site, of course.

Reviews with descriptors like these have me scratching my head, and hoping that I will one day get to taste the drink for myself.

4 years ago 1Who liked this?