Kilchoman Distillery, Scotland     founded: 2005 | active
For more detailed mapping of the distilleries in the area from our whisky map page, use this link.

[This was an 'updated' tasting for this bottle from 3 years before.]

Divided about 50/50 between things edible and things less so. In the former camp, we detected a broad spectrum of fruitsincluding tart apples, sloes, and overripe banana. There were also traces frangipane and toffee, albeit from a distant toffeefactory, situated several blocks down from the swimming pool. In fact for some the nose was situated squarely between elements15 and 16 in the periodic table, inhaling equal wafts from sulphurous hot springs and chlorine-treated swimming pools. The rubberiness is bolstered by marigolds and welly boots, and as is almost obligatory when smelling a Kilchoman whisky, farms feature heavily (that 'new farm' smell) and the wellies have been muddied and left in the card to dry. Finally, what's that ... it's the unmistakeable smellof when Martin about to have a cigarette.

Easy drinking! You're having a porky barbecue with ribs, except that guy you didn't want to come came and the pork he brought was oldand he got some cheesy maple syrup from Pizza One Pancake Too in Norwich and insisted that everyone try his candied Kerosene and medicine-flavoured ice-cream desserts. You're too busy worrying about your lack of ashtrays and the fact that your concrete patio slabswere so recently poured that people can practically taste it. The kids are alright though, as you're well stocked with Werther's Original and cherry Millions.

The after-effects of the barbecue are being felt - the taste of cigarettes lingers and if you were to dare to try it, you would find the bong watersurprisingly nice. The good news is that it's a new day, there's the scent of pine resin in the air, and you can make some mulligatawny soup with the leftovers, have a nice cup of lapsang souchong and go for another swim. It's as long as the Felix Baumgartner's record breaking dive from space.

Packaging:
The sleek black box is confident and classy. The gloss finish with the matte map relief is widely appreciated, although deemed by some to be unoriginal.

~£62 (70cl)

WhiskyBase: Kilchoman Loch Gorm 2015   |   https://www.whiskybase.com/whisky/69100/kilch

We've always scored out of 10 in our group (see number in red box, below), with scores regularly given across that spectrum. The value out of 100 below is adjusted to the scale most commonly used for whisky reviews, to allow for better comparison.

82 / 100