The first comment on the nose neat was sweet peat smoke and that enticing combination would be with us all the way. Hot smoked salmon flakes on a leafy salad with fennel seed and a sweet balsamic vinaigrette, heather honey sweetened black tea and maple bacon cinnamon rolls. The taste was of peated candy, sweet incense smoke and a soy-balsamic marinade. With a drop of water some got carried away kissing a perfumed, cigarette smoking nurse in the hospital corridor whilst others got served gravlaxcanapés. In the taste we all agreed; creamy fish pate on smoky oatcakes and sweet dressed crab.

Drinking Tip:

With an Insalata di Fruitti di Mare

Date Distilled: November 2008
Volume: 750 ml
Colour: Evening primrose oil
Age: 6
Cask Type: 1st fill barrel
Region: Islay
Flavour Profile: Lightly peated
Outturn: 243

What I say:

Only the 6th cask from Kilchoman (SMWS Distilery Code #129) bottled? I’d have guessed the SMWS may have purchased a lot more from Kilchoman – but then again in the early years Kilchoman were keen to buy back an awful lot of sold casks too apparently. Perhaps SMWS are ageing them well then – after all a 6 year old Kilchoman is not to be sniffed at.

Colour:

Light gold (2/20), slow medium-sized tears together with fine legs

Nose:

Smoky and sweet (classic Kilchoman), mineralic and slightly lactic but with a good sweetness, vanilla ice-cream or milkshake, jelly tots sweeties, apple, lime, kiwi, citric grapefruit, lemon, polish, savoury & meaty peat, a touch herbal, meat rub, sage & fennel seed

Taste:

Sweet, fruity, light butterscotch, toffee, mild fruit flavours, lemon, apple pear?, malty and biscuity, mellow edge of peated (almost tannin-like) phenolic antiseptic, bittering white balsamic vinegar, salty, smoked trout and maple-smoked bacon

Finish:

Long peaty reflux, gentle smoke & embers with a sweet lemon & lime marinade

Overall:

Very nice tarred peatiness with a nice sweet fruitiness, not overly complex as everything is presented beautifully on the palate and seems to work well together – like a good smoked fish or meat marinade it is hard to tell the flavours apart and the mixture is likely much more complicated than you imagine. Reminded me a lot of the Kildalton Distillery’s 8 year old released for its celebratory 200th this year…