Kilchoman Machir Bay, bottled 2018 (my bottle)

(Kilchoman cluster homepage) 

Well, dear reader, I did try to find a 2020 Machir Bay but the fact that I was able to find anything of Kilchoman's in Ohio was kinda special. As I type, four stores might have Machir Bay in Franklin County, population 1,316,756. Anyway, this whisky was bottled in May of 2018. It's been open for a couple of months so this review pour isn't coming right off the top.

Mathilda's fourth birthday!

Today's notes come from a Taste Off I did between this whisky and yesterday's 2013 Machir Bay, which was 95% three & four year old whiskies + 5% five year old stuff. Kilchoman has become less public about the age of Machir Bay now, though major UK retailers pin the current bottlings at 5-6 years old. On a curious note, this was the lighter-colored of the two MBs.

Distillery: Kilchoman
Region: Islay

Age and Maturation: Components may be 5-6 years old, aged in "bourbon and sherry casks"

Barley: 50ppm, sourced from Port Ellen maltings

Bottled: 15 May 2018
Alcohol by Volume: 46%

Chillfilltered? No
Colorant added? No
(from the top half of my bottle)

The nose reads much smokier than the 2013. Anise-infused mezcal spreads through the midground, carrying cardamom and apricots. It gets brinier with time, picking up a slight farmy note. Dropping the abv to 40% turns the nose into an awkward cocktail of mezcal, Hampden rum and lemon juice.

The palate is better than the nose. It's some sort of nut bread loaded with nutmeg and cloves, followed by toasty peat, lots of salt and sweet limes. Hints of candied pecans decorate the background. Reduced to 40%abv, the whisky becomes simpler. Sweet and bitter. Mint and lime and salt.

It finishes with the nut bread note, coastal peatiness and lots of sweet limes. Things get simpler here as well when the whisky is diluted to 40%abv, mostly salt and wood smoke with a hint of lime.

Lots of interesting stuff going on here. As I'd referenced above, the whisky is lighter colored. It also noses younger than the three year old 2013 bottling. Frankly the nose is uninspiring, and worse when diluted. The palate rights the ship. While there are fewer angles and dimensions to it than the 2013 edition, the 2018's palate hits all the right notes for a winter warmer. It also avoids the nose's rougher sides. As with the 2013, the whisky works better at 46%abv than 40%, but it tends to weaken more thoroughly with this 2018 version.

Ostensibly the 2018's contents are older than the 2013's, so I wonder if there were changes to the spirit's or malt's specs. Or are there more refill casks involved? Though Kilchoman Machir Bay remains one of the best of Islay's NAS entry-level malts, it seems to be acting its age now more than it used to.

Availability - At many specialty liquor retailers in North America, Europe and Asia
Pricing - $45-$65
Rating - 84 (when neat)

Kilchoman Machir Bay, bottled 2013

 (Kilchoman cluster homepage)

Per my palate, Kilchoman hit the ground running with their first standard bottling, Machir Bay. Named for the West Coast beach near the distillery, the whisky was mostly 3 and 4 year old whiskies with a smidgen of 5 year old stuff when it first showed up in 2012, yet it met and bested some of Islay's regular 10-12 year olds. I went through a couple bottles in the first few years and recommended it to anyone who wanted some "really smoky scotch". Samples were never kept because it was an everyday bottle, and it was a year or two before my interest began regarding the quality progression of standard bottlings. Luckily I was able to purchase a sample a few years ago. And don't worry, this wee one had a sparring partner.

Distillery: Kilchoman
Region: Islay

Age and Maturation: 60% 3-year-old matured in former Buffalo Trace barrels + 35% 4-year-old matured in former Buffalo Trace barrels and finished for two months in ex-Sherry casks + 5% 5-year-old matured in former Buffalo Trace barrels

Barley: 50ppm, sourced from Port Ellen maltings

Bottled: 2013
Alcohol by Volume: 46%

Chillfilltered? No
Colorant added? No
(from a purchased sample)

The neat nose begins with freshly baked cookies and peat smoke laced with mint and anise. Notes of wet tree bark, horseradish and shoe polish develop over twenty minutes. Reducing it to 40%abv brings out farmy and leafy notes. The mint and anise remain, while the cookies become pastry dough and confectioner's sugar.

Lemon cookies and moderate wood smoke, with a whiff of pine, takes palate's foreground. Butterscotch chips, peanut brittle and a salty mineral note fill the midground. Hints of charred beef and York peppermint patties roll around in the back. Reducing the whisky to 40%abv rolls the smoke back and brings the salt and minerals forward. A tarter lemon note lingers in the background.

Smoke highlighted with lemon and bitter herbs fills the surprisingly long finish. Smaller notes of mint leaf and minerals appear later. Diluting to 40%abv pushes the sooty smoke even further forward. All the other elements are replaced by a mild sweetness.

Yeah, this still rocks. It's young, but neither rough nor raw, and it still seems older than its age. No mezcal nor ethanol, but plenty of lemon, mint and minerals. And though the peat is ever-present, it doesn't hammer the tastebuds like 3-5yo Port Charlotte, Ardbeg or Talisker can. At least I knew back in 2013 that Machir Bay was a good thing.

I'll review a more recent bottling tomorrow. But for now...

Availability - In 2013, North America and Europe
Pricing - In 2013, $50-$60
Rating - 87 (when neat)

Kilchoman New Make Spirit, from Port Ellen Maltings

 (Kilchoman cluster homepage)

Let us begin with the naked stuff, or something close to it. Many many thank yous to LV33 who was able to obtain a sizable sample of the clear spirit from a very good source, then shared a bit with me. 

This is the heavily-peated version of their spirit, weighing in at 50ppm at time of malting. Sourced from Diageo's Port Ellen facility, the barley was malted using specs similar (or identical) to Ardbeg's. The vast majority of Kilchoman's malt still arrives in this manner, though an increasing quantity comes from their own malting floor (10-25ppm). Their new make's actual strength runs close to 70%abv, then they reduce it to 63.5%abv for cask filling.

Distillery: Kilchoman
Region: Islay

Age: 0

Maturation: No
Source: Port Ellen maltings
Peat level: 50ppm
Alcohol by Volume: 63.5%

At first the nose shows mesquite smoke and dried apricots. Then jasmine blossoms and baking chocolate. At the ten minute mark those two pairings merge, resulting in white peaches, rose blossoms and a chocolatey smoke. Hints of pine, cinnamon and cumin appear in the background later on.

The palate reminds me of the one super-aged sake (koshu!) I tried in Kyoto four years ago, with its balance of dried fruits and savoriness. And also sake. But its fierce mossy smoke is very much not sake. There's just a tiny bit of eau de vie in the background.

Brazil nuts, toasted seaweed and heavy smoke finish it off.

Per my written notes, "Goddamn I love newmake." I can't even speak constructively about it. This is a beautiful spirit. Not complex, just adorable. Most Scottish new makes trend towards eau de vie (very good) or mezcal (good), but this one tilts towards sake which appeals to my nose and palate. Kilchoman did release a few high strength "New Spirit" bottlings once upon a time, each of which was less than three years old. I can't promise they'll be as good as this. But if you can find a bit of their new make, drink it!

Rating - 87 (yes, a whisky rating for a new make)

Five-week Kilchoman Cluster begins

The Glen Grant cluster was inspired by several ancient samples in my stash. This Kilchoman cluster is more personal, or as personal as a branded tempered poison can be. The distillery's development follows my path as a whisky enthusiast. To a point.

A Timeline:

2005 - The Wills family opens Kilchoman distillery. Meanwhile, single malts smite me, and smite me goodly, now and forever.

2007 - The distillery and its warehouses expand. My single malt experience grows beyond the bestsellers as I join my first whisky club.

2010 - Thanks to bars in LA and shops in London, I tumble down the rabbit hole known as single casks. At the same time, Kilchoman sends its first single malts to the US market.

2011 - Kilchoman rolls out its first 100% Islay single malt. Whisky reviews begin popping up on Diving for Pearls.

2012 - It's almost all whisky reviews here, going forward. Kilchoman bottles its first standard release, Machir Bay. 

2014 - Kilchoman travel retail bottlings and $150 single casks begin to appear. My enthusiasm for the distillery — and the industry in general — ebbs. The Diving for Pearls modern era begins.

These clusters are not about whisky pricing, rather they're studies of actual whiskies. So let us remember the pre-2014 era, when the Kilkerran WIPs, Port Charlotte PCs and Kilchoman vintage releases ascended and we enjoyed the remarkable quality of the very young single malts coming from these new brands. I noticed at the time that nearly every reviewer of these whiskies spoke of the future, as in "I can't wait until we see this stuff at 12 years old." Meanwhile, I thought about the present. Since the late James Swan had designed the Kilchoman spirit to be more approachable at a young age, via super-skinny cuts, no one knew how the whisky would change with time. Were we seeing the potential or the peak?

Or, to quote an awkwardly shoehorned line of dialogue from a badly dated film, Is this as good as it gets?

(photo source)

Though I've written about eighteen(!) Kilchomans since 2014, I've purchased only three Kilchoman bottles during those seven years. On the other hand, I amassed a lot of samples. So it's time to catch up a bit and see what's happened during the first decade of Kilchoman single malt releases. This series will include seventeen Kilchoman reviews, stretched out over five weeks. Two of my bottles will be included in the mix and something appropriate will start off the series tomorrow. But I can neither confirm nor deny that a 56-year-old Kilchoman will conclude the course.

Welcome to the Kilchoman Kluster.

1. Kilchoman New Make Spirit from Port Ellen Maltings - "Goddamn I love newmake."
2. Kilchoman Machir Bay, bottled 2013 - "It's young, but neither rough nor raw, and it still seems older than its age."
3. Kilchoman Machir Bay, bottled 2018 - "Though Kilchoman Machir Bay remains one of the best of Islay's NAS entry-level malts, it seems to be acting its age now more than it used to."
4. Kilchoman Machir Bay Cask Strength, UK Tour 2014 - "As bottled, the black walnuts, citrus and truffle salt work delightfully in the palate......I have little positivity to share about the 46%abv version"
5. Kilchoman Machir Bay Cask Strength, UK Tour 2015 - "It's a better, and seemingly older, whisky at full power."
6. Kilchoman Machir Bay Cask Strength, USA West Coast Tour 2017 - "Don't reduce this stuff to 46%abv. In fact, this whisky gets damned near unpleasant at that strength. Keep it at full power..."
7. Kilchoman Machir Bay Cask Strength, Meet the Peat Tour 2019 - "...the nose's angles and the palate's brutality are qualities a number of Islay distilleries wish they could achieve with their official releases."
8. Kilchoman Machir Bay Cask Strength, 2020 edition - "The nose was the best part......it keeps the whisky from dipping into the C-grade range."

Assessing the Kilchoman cluster at the halfway point

9. Kilchoman 2007 Vintage - "As I've found with most young whiskies, this one's excitement descends with each aspect."
10. Kilchoman 2008 Vintage - "There's a quality here I had really hoped I would find during this cluster..."
11. Kilchoman 2010 Vintage - "It has a cracking start with an engaging nose, but the palate feels stunted and doesn't air out well."
12. Kilchoman 100% Islay, 9th Edition - "A Kilchoman that swims......It's still the least-formed of the distillery's standard or annual releases..."
13. Kilchoman 9 year old 2008 100% Islay, cask 549 for K&L - "Another 100% Islay that takes water well......the whisky feels like it's almost there."
14. Kilchoman 7 year old 2011 100% Islay, cask 622 for Impex - "This is mostly cask, though I enjoyed it. Had there been a burlier spirit......to stand up to the cask, this would have been a hell of a thing."
15. Kilchoman Loch Gorm, 2020 Edition - "...this whisky has the big spirit to stand up to the big casks."
16. Kilchoman Summer 2010 Release - "It does smell delightful......But the palate is very one dimensional......it needs friends and happy casks and time."
17. Kilchoman 14 year old 2006, cask 18 for Impex - "The "Mediterranean" style of the neat nose works very well, while the neat palate makes this feel like the first-ever Kilchoman for summer weather."

Concluding the Kilchoman Cluster

Laphroaig Càirdeas Port & Wine Casks versus Laphroaig Càirdeas Port Wood

I said I wasn't going to review this 2020 Càirdeas, then I wound up enjoying 2019's Cask Strength Triple Wood more than I'd expected, then My "Surprisingly Legitimate" Annoying Opinions sent me a sample of the 2020 Càirdeas. So here I am.

Laphroaig's subtraction by addition has been covered a few times on Diving for Pearls, with my last rant being the most thorough bit.

I'll get straight to the......well, I'll let them tell it:

TWO REDS ARE BETTER THAN ONE. INTRODUCING THE 2020 CÀIRDEAS - AN INSTANT CLASSIC CRAFTED WITH RUBY PORT BARRIQUES AND RED WINE CASKS 

Our 2020 annual release of Laphroaig Càirdeas, Port & Wine Casks, continues our long history of innovation. A unique marriage of our classic Laphroaig whisky rested in second-fill Ruby Port ‘barriques’ along with whisky double matured in ex-Bourbon barrels followed by ex-red wine casks.

Is that so? 

A.) They have a very short history of innovation. They have a long history of sticking the fucking landing with their core expression. Or they had.
B.) The official description details the port maturation but leaves the wine part vague. "Red wine"? What is it, a Bordeaux or a pruno? That's like saying "scotch". Is it Brora or Duggan's Dew?
C.) If you're voluntarily mixing "red wine" and port in your glass then it's 1:00am, the party sucks and you know you're going to vomit anyway.
D.) Anyone who mixes peated whisky, bourbon, port and "red wine" should probably avoid alcohol altogether.

Nonetheless, I have a sample of the whisky. I was going to pair it with the 2015 Càirdeas, but decided that would be too cruel. Then I remembered I'd saved one last ounce of my 2013 Càirdeas bottle. Yep, the Port Wood finish, a whisky that really shouldn't have worked but did. It would serve as a better point of reference. It was meant to be.

Port Wood Finish versus Port & Wine Casks

2013 versus 2020

Pinkie Pie versus The Purple Nurple

It's On.

Laphroaig Càirdeas 2013 Port Wood Finish - 51.3%abv	Laphroaig Càirdeas 2020 Port & Wine Casks - 52.0%abv
The nose balances notes of roses and almonds with a wallop of mossy smoke. Antiseptic, old band-aids, iodine, chimney smoke and ruby chocolate fill the midground. Once the whisky is diluted to 48%abv, the nose takes on new characteristics. The roses and iodine are still there, but now they're joined by raspberries and ocean water, with hints of nectarines and gumdrops in the background.	New blue rubber ball. That's all I get from the nose for the first few minutes. Then there's lavender, sage, pork ribs with a sugary glaze and burnt kale chips. Plum jam and Dove soap in the background. Diluting it to 48%abv mellows things out. Straightforward peat and almond extract perch on one level, with berry jam and plum wine underneath.
Lots of seaweed in the palate, followed by sea salt and an industrial note. It registers more tart than sweet, with limes above and a hint of flower kiss candy beneath. The whisky tilts towards dark chocolate once it's reduced to 48%abv, but the seaweed note (dashi) remains. It has a berry essence, without the sugar.	I'm getting a lot more salt than peat on the palate. There are tart berries and tart oranges, toasted oak staves, fizzy mineral water and a whiff of bitter smoke. The berries get much sweeter and more floral when reduced to 48%abv. A little bit of smoke and tartness remains.
The finish holds a mix of savory dashi, lime juice and machine shop. A burst of cask strength Laphroaig hits late. The dashi stays put after the whisky's dropped to 48%abv, now joined by roses and blackberries	It finishes salty and peppery with a dash of tangy white balsamic vinegar. A little bit of smoke and lime, but nothing else. At 48%abv, the finish is shorter, sweeter and more floral.

WORDS WORDS WORDS

Nearly seven years needed to pass before I understood why the 2013 Port Wood Finish works. Though it takes on flowers and berries from the casks, it never gets very sweet. As referenced in the notes, it's the essences that are passed along, not the sugars. The seaweed notes work much better than I'd remembered, and I'm becoming a sucker for that flavor. Perhaps the whisky needed the right sparring partner for me to see this.

The 2020 Càirdeas does take on the sweetness of its casks' former inhabitants. Dilution boosts the sugars, though luckily not too much. Unlike Glenmorangie's finishes, this Laphroaig's cask effects never seem pasted on. But they do overwhelm the palate and bring A LOT of rubberiness to the nose. The finish is a bit of a *shrug*, but I'm not sure that's due to the wine casks. It's not a bad whisky overall, but that's not the sort of praise to which this famed distillery should aspire. Though Ardbeg seems perfectly satisfied when their special releases underperform their standard whiskies, I wish Laphroaig would aim higher.

RATINGS:

Laphroaig Càirdeas 2013 Port Wood Finish - 88
Laphroaig Càirdeas Port & Wine Casks - 81

Dallas Dhu 33 year old 1979 Gordon & MacPhail

Welcome to my first and last Dallas Dhu review! The blog has barely even mentioned this deceased distillery. I wish could say something hip like I've always enjoyed Dallas Dhu's underrated single malt, but I can't. This will be only the second Dallas Dhu I've tried; the first one was kinda bleh. Anyway, the distillery was up and around for about 85 years (minus two closings) before DCL shut it down in 1983. It's one of the few dead distilleries that has not been plowed into the ground, and currently serves as a distillation museum in its home of Forres, Moray. Many thanks to Sir Brett of Riverside for this sample!

Distillery: Dallas Dhu
Region: Speyside (Moray)
Ownership at time of distillation: Distillers Company Limited

Bottler: Gordon & MacPhail

Series: Licensed bottling





Age: 33 years (1979-2012)
Maturation: probably a refill something or other

Alcohol by Volume: 43%

Chillfiltered: ???
Colorant added: ???

The nose is a bit blank at first. Needs 20+ minutes. Aluminum baseball bat appears first, then steel wool, then anise and cardamom. It starts gaining steam. Peach crumble, caramel, rosewater, pine needles and wasabi. It peaks at 40-ish minutes then starts to fade again.

It has a good mouthfeel, which leads me to think it hasn't been chillfiltered. Like the nose, the palate needs time. It starts out bready, with some caramel and dried apricots around the edges. Then it picks up some bitter greens, copper and a fresher stone fruit sweetness.

It finishes peppery and dusty after the first two sips. Subsequent sips have the fruity sweetness and some caramel. The tannins begin to escape after the final sips.

This surpassed my low expectations, though the whisky needed time to perk up. On the positive side, it has a distinct imperfect old school character, so I'm very glad I tried it. The finish was its weakest element. I'm not sure if a higher ABV would have helped or revealed more issues. It's a bit creaky and bitter, a little fruity but not enough. It's tired, starting to fray near the seams, teetering on the edge of collapse. I can relate to this whisky. I'm an 82 on my best days too.

Availability - Secondary market
Pricing - Still in the three-figure range as of today
Rating - 82

Highland Park Cask Strength, Release 1

Highland Park entered the NAS burly sherried Cask Strength marketplace — one that includes distilleries such as Aberlour, Glendronach, Glengoyne, Tomatin, Tamdhu and (occasionally) Macallan — with a thunderous first release weighing in at 63.3%abv. Though I do not tend to enjoy ultra-high abv scotch whisky, Highland Park's single malts are often very good, so I'm willing to take a little punishment. In an attempt to get a fuller appreciation of Release 1, I've elected to try it at three different strengths, in this order: 43%abv, 50%abv and 63.3%abv.

Distillery: Highland Park

Ownership: The Edrington Group

Region: Kirkwall, Orkney

Age: ???

Maturation: sherry-seasoned American oak casks
Release #: 1
Release year: 2020

Alcohol by Volume: 63.3%
Chillfilltered? No
Colorant added? Possibly not

Diluted to 43%abv, using water and maths

The nose starts out with barbecue potato chip powder and an alcoholic nip. But after 10 minutes it takes a quick turn toward sugarier territory: milk chocolate, caramel and peach gummy candies. It starts fading out after 20 minutes.

Lots of candy on the palate, too: milk chocolate, dark chocolate, peanut butter and marshmallow fluff. Black pepper and a touch of good bitterness give it some needed angles, and it has a nice mouthfeel as well.

It finishes with peanut butter and golden raisins on the first two sips. Subsequent tries bring out metal and earth notes.

It's a comfy, easy whisky at this strength. The peat is either shy or absent here, and the nose peters out way too quickly.

Diluted to 50%abv, using water and a sundial

The nose is fruitier, prettier at this strength, with red plum skins, jasmine and lilac. Smaller notes of burlap and Frosted Flakes float in the background. An ashy note appears after 30 minutes.

Mildly peaty and floral, the palate holds onto the peanut butter note while gaining orange gummy slices and fresh ginger. The bitter bite now trends towards oak.

Some vegetal peat and tangy berries comprise the finish during the first few sips. It gets hotter, bitterer and more peppery with time.

Great nose! The palate starts out pretty well too until the bitter oak creeps in. It remains very drinkable at this strength.

63.3%abv naked, I mean I'm naked, the whisky is in a glass 

The nose reads closed for quite a while. Maybe 20 minutes? Almost one-by-one, each element peeks out then ascends. Manure, Hampden funk, charred beef, gummy bears, flowers and tangerines.

The sweeter and (obviously) hotter palate leads with blood oranges, dried cherries and a dose of soot. Those oranges get tangier and sweeter with time, and are joined by toasted almonds and a touch of barbecue sauce.

Not as hot as expected, the finish holds an orange-y custard, honey, jalapeños and a subtle sootiness.

WORDS WORDS WORDS

It's not the most complex thing, but it's quite good. I'm not sure which abv level to recommend. The palate is best at full power, the nose is gorgeous at 50%abv and the mouthfeel is silkiest at 43%abv. So perhaps one may get a lot of whisky out of this whisky. At a similar price point, the Full Volume would still get my pick over this whisky. And since I'm done with getting my ass kicked in general, I might even roll with the 12yo instead. But that's me. Enjoy, you masochists.

Availability - USA and Europe
Pricing - $80-$120
Rating - 86