Review by: The Muskox
This was the 5th and final whisky of the Toronto Whisky Society’s “oddballs” tasting that I attended the other day. This whisky is maybe the least “oddball” of them all: sure, you don’t see many tawny-port-matured whiskies, but for whatever reason, the Alberta liquor stores all seemed to get a bunch of exclusive Kilchoman single casks in all at the same time. While assembling the tasting, my friend Devon could have picked from any of them, but he so enjoyed this cask that he couldn’t pass it up.
This cask was selected for Sierra Springs in Alberta, Canada.
Distillery: Kilchoman.
Bottler: Official bottling.
Region: Islay.
ABV: 55.6%. Cask strength.
Age: 8 years. Distilled March 5th 2012. Bottled October 7th 2020
Cask type: Cask #246, a tawny port cask.
Price: N/A, sample.
Color: No colour added. Un-chill-filtered.
Nose: Syrupy-sweet. Apricot jam on buttered rye toast. White cherries, strawberry shortcake, peach pie, chocolate chip banana bread. Whipped cream. Salty cured meats, seawater, muddy hay, burning swamp grass, and camphor. Some bubblegum and a little bit of a cranberry-cocktail tartness. Grape tomatoes?
Palate: Medium-thick texture, drinks way below proof. Candied citrus, red-on-the-inside plums, cherry cordials, and nougat up front. Decadent dessert peat and bright candied fruit on the development. Sooty, peppery driftwood smoke, with burning grass and dried herbs. Heavy vanilla crème, like, a bonfire made of eclairs. Candied flowers, sourdough, and flamed cinnamon stick.
Finish: Medium-length, candy-sweet. Birthday cake slathered in vanilla buttercream, candied yellow fruit, citrus jellies, and jams for days. Sweet malt, dark chocolate, honey. Tart earthy smoke and wood-fired pizza oven. Cooling mint lingers.
Conclusion: Ahhh, dessert peat never gets old. This is an exceptionally syrupy-sweet and rich Kilchoman. Just superlatively creamy and fragrant, with heavy port notes but in a slightly different way than your typical Ruby port matured scotch. The finish is especially great, as some of the complexity starts to come through. I’ve had a bunch of Kilchoman lately, and though it isn’t a runaway, I think that finish puts this one above the rest.
Final Score: 86.
Scoring Legend:
- 95-100: As good as it gets. Jaw-dropping, eye-widening, unforgettable whisky.
- 90-94: Sublime, a personal favorite in its category.
- 85-89: Excellent, a standout dram.
- 80-84: Quite good. Quality stuff.
- 75-79: Decent whisky worth tasting.
- 70-74: Meh. It’s definitely drinkable, but it can do better.
- 60-69: Not so good. I might not turn down a glass if I needed a drink.
- 50-59: Save it for mixing.
- 0-49: Blech.
Malt Runners 