Kilchoman Machir Bay - Review
Age: No age statement, between 5-6 years
Barrel type: Ex-bourbon, sourced from Buffalo Trace; finished in ex-Oloroso sherry casks
Region: Islay
ABV: 46%
Price: $60
Additional details: non-chill filtered, natural color
Kilchoman is currently Islay's youngest distillery (although that title will soon pass to Ardnahoe, an upcoming project), and has been open for a little over a decade. Remarkably, in its 10-15 years in existence, Kilchoman has managed to make a powerful impression on scotch whisky lovers all over the world.
Kilchoman began as a labor of love by its founder, Anthony Wills, and as one of the relatively early attempts in the contemporary wave of distillery openings and reopenings to create a farm-to-bottle product (not a fan of the term, but it appropriately describes the place's ambitions). In fact, it refers to itself as the "farm distillery" because it owns the farm where some of its barley is grown. In addition, like Laphroaig or Springbank, it does its own floor maltings, which is relatively rare nowadays. However, don't get carried away by the hype. Although its own barley goes into its 100% Islay expression, the distillate for Machir Bay and the rest of its line still comes from Port Ellen, which supplies most of the distilleries on the island, including Ardbeg, Laphroaig, Caol Ila, and Lagavulin.
Kilchoman's malt from Port Ellen is peated around 50 ppm, which means its smoke level should be similar to Ardbeg or Laphroaig. One confounding factor, however, is age, which mellows out the harsher edges of peat smoke. Since Kilchoman ages for fewer years than most other Islay distillery's standard bearers, which are in the barrel for 10 to 16 years, it may express its peatiness in a more robust fashion. Let's see how it turns out.
Appearance: On the bottle appearance alone, Machir Bay would be an A+. The stout bottle shape is similar to Aberfeldy 12, and there's an attractive graven golden seal with the distillery's whirlpool symbol front and center. The inclusion of the signatures of both the distillery manager (John MacLellan) and the founder (Wills) is reminiscent of The Balvenie's presentation. The box then has that slightly 80s vibe akin to Caol Ila, with a lightly embossed image of Scotland (Islay in gold).
The back of the box explains the name: "Machir Bay, located half a mile from the distillery, is one of the most beautiful beaches on Islay and is the name given to our core expression." The bottle even describes the color as "beach," which is pretty accurate -- it's like silica sand.
Here are the distillery's own tasting notes:
Nose: Lemon and citrus with a sweet smoky aroma.
Palate: Vanilla and butterscotch with an intense sweet peaty aftertaste.
Finish: Signature Kilchoman, with a long lingering finish.
Nose: A shapeshifter, this one. It starts out as banana bread, which gets me pretty jazzed even before it changes. The peat manifests as particularly grassy and green on this one, perhaps because of the young age. There's some spiciness to it -- nutmeg? The nose grows brinier over time and ends with the same sweet-meets-peat nose as Ardbeg 10, which means I agree with the lemon and citrus notes on the box. The smoke evolves closer to charcoal by the end, like a smoldering barbecue pit.
Palate: The palate carries through on the promise of the nose, with rich ash and then a burgeoning sweetness of grilled pineapple. A lot of Kilchoman Machir Bay's notes remind me of a slightly less smoky version of Ardbeg: unsweetened lemon oil, some grassiness again, and a medicinal tail (that part's a bit more Laphroaig). The grassiness has a botanical kick to it, and the dram also has a bit of a floral or meadow character. Oh, and as if that wasn't enough, a tiny bit of white chocolate peaks out at times.
Finish: The finish lingers beautifully, smoke curling upward from a spent cooking fire. Warm, even hot, throughout. It's amazing for such a young scotch. The smoke is closest to a puff of cigar at the end, and there's a salty, citrus counterpoint that (I must sound like a broken record) reminds me of Ardbeg. A little sprig of mint, and some fresh-mowed grass, closes it out.
Value for Money and Final Impressions: Although I haven't tried other expressions yet, I love what Kilchoman has produced here, and I love how they're doing it. I love the fact that we know where their ex-bourbon barrels originate (Buffalo Trace), which is a rarity in the scotch world (the only other one I've heard is that Laphroaig's barrels come from Maker's Mark). On taste alone, Kilchoman Machir Bay is Ardbeg's closest cousin among Islay single malts. Its bright, citrus or tropical fruit character and mild smokiness are almost exactly what I imagine a more lightly peated version of Ardbeg would be. Surprisingly, the smoke level feels a bit lower than Ardbeg despite its younger age. I can only speculate that it's the final finish in sherry casks that mellows those notes out.
For the distillery to be able to reach this level with a 5-6-year old whisky is a remarkable achievement. I'm not entirely in love with some of the grassier notes in this dram, and it's priced a bit higher than the giants like Ardbeg and Laphroaig at the moment, but Kilchoman is the brightest young prospect in Scotland. I can't wait to taste their whiskies as they hit older ages.
Rating: A-