Islay Whisky

Scarabus means ‘rocky place’ in Old Norse, named after a mystical area of Islay.

Scarabus means ?rocky place? in Old Norse, named after a mystical area of Islay.

This bottling is a higher-strength edition of Hunter Laing's Scarabus single malt, which is an Islay single malt from an undisclosed distillery. To make it, casks are specially selected to be bottled at the bumped-up strength. While the standard expression is bottled at 46% ABV, this one weighs in at a burly 57% ABV, which has helped to bolster the robust, smoky notes at its core.

With age comes more character, an incredibly balanced dram. This mature blend has complex spice, gentle peat and tobacco-like notes perfectly balanced with dried fruits and nutty undertones.

Caol Ila 10yo First Fill Amontillado Sherry Hogshead Cask Finish #306695 

Nose
Ashy and fruity ? smoked pears, quince jelly, strawberry, greengage and liquorice root.

Taste
Earthy, sweet smoke, paired with salted liquorice, physalis and freshly squeezed lime juice.

Finish
Smoked pears, lemon rind and freshly baked dough.

The Kilchoman 100% Islay 12th Edition from Kilchoman distillery was matured in 29 bourbon barrels and 6 oloroso sherry butts for a minimum of 8 years. 

Once harvested, the barley was hand malted on the Kilchoman malt floor, and gently turned twice daily by the maltmen as it germinated. The green malt was then smoked using peat cut from the Cnoc Dubh peat banks, the thick peat smoke permeating each barley grain, creating the distinct smoky Kilchoman character, landing around 20PPM. 

Once distilled in Kilchoman's unique pot stills, the new make spirit was filled into casks and stowed in dunnage warehouses at the distillery.

Made entirely from barley grown at Rockside farm where the distillery resides, this expression offers a more delicate and complex peat smoke, with fragrant and zesty citrus tones and malt-forward flavour. The aroma pulls you in with a crisp and fresh sea salt note, with banana bread and pear drop fruityness, tinged with sweet smoke. The palate is weighty, bringing the vanilla and caramel woody notes through, becoming buttery and honeyed, surrounded by grilled citrus smoke to the end.

The much-anticipated release of Kilchoman's 'Casado' has arrived just in time for Christmas, offering Kilchoman's rich, peaty whisky that was given an additional 2 years marrying in specially made Portuguese ex-red wine vats known as Casado's. 

TASTING NOTES:

Nose: Opens with an intense note of a sea-side bonfire on an Islay beach, with summer fruit, plum and cherries surrounded by peat smoke.

Taste: There is pronounced pepper & spice, dry and salty with peat and lemon, with apricot compote following.

Finish: A sticky, jammy flavour builds alongside a cooked fruit character, distinctly Kilchoman to its beautifully smokey finish.

Kilchoman Fino Cask 2020 Bottling Note

An intriguing bottling here from Kilchoman, which has been matured fully in Fino sherry casks! The casks for this expression were used previously by Bodega Miguel Martin in Spain, including 11 fresh sherry butts and just the one refill butt. Combining the savoury notes of peaty whisky with the salinity of Fino, this ought to be great for someone looking to try something a little bit different.

Nose: Toasted nuts, peat smoke and a hint of sea salt, while sweeter notes of honey and banana bring some balance.

Palate: Dark chocolate, another touch of flaky sea salt, a burst of fresh citrus and some earthy, vegetal peat.

Finish: Green olive, salted butter and smoke.

Named after a famously dark and peaty loch overlooked by the distillery, Loch Gorm is a sherry cask single malt matured exclusively in oloroso casks, extracting the rich spicy character of the European oak as it ages in Kilchoman's Islay warehouses. 

This is the 2023 release.

Named after the most spectacular beach on Islay, Machir Bay is the flagship of the Kilchoman range. Machir Bay is a unique and complex combination of ex-bourbon barrels and oloroso sherry butts. There is a predominantly ex-bourbon influence on this release which is indicated in the cask influence graph on the front of the carton.

source- Kilchoman

Kilchoman - Machir Bay, named after the isle of Islay?s most spectacular beach, is a vatting of Kilchoman whisky matured in both bourbon and sherry casks. The high proportion of bourbon barrels creating a distinct balance of classic Islay character and fresh floral complexity.

"Machir Bay at cask strength has such intense flavours, the tropical fruit on the nose jumps out of the glass and the citrus sweetness on the palate is so concentrated and powerful."

- Anthony Wills, Kilchoman Founder.

Kilchoman Distillery sits nestles amongst the traditional buildings of Rockside Farm on the north-west coast of Islay. Famous as Islay's Farm Distillery, the distillery's barley fields stretch west to the shores of Machir Bay and the Atlantic Ocean. Kilchoman is unique in many ways, most notability for their 100% Islay range, Scotland's only Single Farm Single Malt. The Madeira Cask Matured was distilled in May 2016 and filled into 46 fresh Madeira Hogsheads for over 5 years. This, the second Madeira Cask Matured release, has been matured solely in fresh casks, adding an abundance of juicy fortified wine notes and a rich mahogany colour to the Kilchoman spirit.

Sanaig, named after an inlet on Islay’s rugged Atlantic cost, is a vatting of Kilchoman matured in both sherry and bourbon barrels. This sherry cask scotch whisky is matured in a high proportion of oloroso barrels, imparting a balance of dried fruits, dark chocolate and rich peat smoke into the spirit.