Kilchoman - 100% Islay - 13th Ed. (2023)

Kilchoman Distillery, Single Malt Scotch, 750ml, 50% abv

Non-chill filtered, natural color

This is one of the most sought-after of the Kilchoman range — their annual limited edition 100% Islay series (so, the key difference vs. their other whiskies is this whisky is made entirely with barley grown on Islay. This 2023 (13th) Edition was limited to only 13,000 bottles, distilled from their 2012, 2013 and 2014 barley harvests before being matured for a minimum of 8 years in 44 bourbon barrels. The Peating level is 20ppm, and the barley varietal is publican.

For those not familiar with the Kilchoman Distillery, it was the first “new” distillery on Islay in 124 years when it was established in 2005, paving the way for a new crop of young distilleries such as Ardnahoe, Port Ellen, and soon Portintruan, Finlaggan and possibly more. But even when all those distilleries are built, this is still the only farm distillery — they operate a large farm that grows barley, something that is immediately obvious when you visit, literally dodging tractors as you work your way to the parking lot. While they do not have the capacity to grow all the barley they need to make their whiskies, no other distillery on Islay has committed to farming in any meaningful way, certainly nothing like Kilchoman has, which today remains a family-run operation by Anthony Wills and his sons (and now the family of the farm they partnered with and ultimately merged with are involved as well). Truly extraordinary whisky — and Peated Islay single malt Scotch at that.