50°
Distillery : Kilchoman - Islay
31 Ex-Cognac Barriques
Original Bottling
Limited Edition
Single Malt
Bottled in 2023
Unchillfiltered, Uncoloured
Peated at 50 ppm
The distillery has been experimenting with Cognac casks for a few years now. Initially a simple finish on a bottling released in 2020, then a first limited edition of 4 years of age that went more or less unnoticed. Finally comes this vintage, made from 31 barrels of Cognac, giving a total of 15,100 bottles, a large-scale release so to speak. The juice is 6 years old, reduced to 50°.
Let's Taste It :
The nose is very sweet, barley sugar, icing sugar, and white fruits, Conference pear, small tangy yellow apples, plums and mirabelles. A dash of whipped cream. The peat is in the background, blending with the sugar to create cotton candy. A touch of iodine makes it airy. The palate is still very smooth, honeyed, genoise, more focused on the apple, with some ash in the background. The spices remain discreet, nutmeg and cinnamon. The finish is good, quite earthy, back to basics, the peat takes over, with mineral, charcoal notes and lingering smoke. Rock, chalky cliff, limestone. Heather.
In Short,
A very fine marriage, but one that doesn't quite work. At the beginning, it's mainly the Cognac that dominates, and at the end, the mineral peat typical of Kilchoman regains power. It's a very nice product, but having said that, friends used to tell me with stars in their eyes about Kilchoman's old bottlings aged in Cognac casks, and I didn't find anything absolutely exceptional here. The price is a bit high, as is often the case with this distillery, which operates on a quasi-artisanal basis.
Score : 87
To Be Listened While Sipping :
High Pulp - Troupeau Bleu
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