🥃 Whisky Auctioneer

Can you really tell anyone that he is 4 years old and weighs 60% ... In any case, he tastes neither of them nor of the other. Rather, it looks older and gentler - and is just fun.

I enjoyed a keg tasting during this year's Feis Ile and I have to say that the last half year has done well once again. The keg tasting was still a strong New Make Association, which is hardly the case here. A year more might have done well. I am curious if there is another matured filling like Madeira. Nevertheless, the Sauternes, like the Port and the Madeira, meet exactly my taste buds.

It is not the best Kilchoman that I had but I have to admit that I had no good Sauternes Wine whisky so far. This was the first where I would say that I could like it :-) Once again an excellent job by this wonderful distillery. And as I have mentioned it in several notes before. This is just the beginning :-) So much good stuff to come. I am so excited about the future :-)

I must have had something different in my glass than most others here. I can't understand the enthusiasm. I mean, for its young age, it's pretty good. But in this price range, I have to be honest, I expect quite a bit more. I don't find it fruity at all, unlike most others. I find it very bitter and herbal. It almost has a hint of a herbal liqueur. You could almost think of Underberg. Although the liqueur sweetness only comes through on the tongue. On the nose, it's mainly dusty and dry, and the alcohol really bites. I need a good amount of water to get it down. Well-integrated is something else entirely, even at this age.

Rating 90.00 - yes, it's the best Kilchoman I've ever had. After 24 different Kilochomans, I can confidently say that I am finally 90! And the best thing about 4-year-old Kilchoman. But history knows cases where 3-year-old Penderyn was given 91-92 :D

It is very impressive what is possible in a short time with a great raw spirit and well-selected barrels. Youth and alcohol content are extremely well integrated in this whisky. This creates a wonderfully fruity-sweet Islay malt that is carried by a trail of fresh, maritime smoke.

Color: amber, copper

Not a great fan of Sauternes finishes, but this one isn't too bad. Does leave a slight cloying sweet feeling at the back of the throat though which I dislike.

Nose, taste and finish, quite dominated by alcohol. Gives not much away. This one definitely needs more than one drop of water. With water added wine, fruit and a bit of smoke appear. Warm and peasant on the palate, but also a bit new-makeish and lacking complexity. Long and intense finish, which is strangely enough very dry and adstringent, sauternes or no sauternes. Overpriced and even more so, if you have to pay for this in weak euros.

Today I am lazy and therefore I would like to add only the otherwise very correct remarks of "edge mechanic": I had clearly fresh papaya in my nose. Otherwise, I was incredibly surprised at how well the strong alcohol (60% by volume) was integrated after just those short 4 years. Well-integrated alcohol is always a quality criterion for me and so well integrated with so much strength and such a young age speaks for an absolutely outstanding quality of the spirit and the barrels. But that is already slowly used by Kilchoman. You can drink this bottling well undiluted and that at 60 vol.%. It tastes and smells better, if you open it with a little water. Similarly, you can dilute more - unlike some other Kilchoman bottlings, this does not tend to "drowning". Little water is better. What surprised me otherwise was that the smoke was contrary to some other descriptions rather holding back - or to put it better, the smoke was very well integrated into the rest of the world of flavors. Thus, it would have been better possible to remember metallic impressions of such a young malt rather wrong but - and this is again a quality criterion, it in turn speaks for super barrels, if there apparently in the short time already a lot of subtractive maturation of Statten seems to have gone. Instead of any metallic impressions, I even found it hard to believe, delicate bitterness and wood, as if biting into a wet board. Just the right little touch of wood bitterness, so that there is a counterbalance to the strong sweetness of Sauternes. Not a bit more. Perfect ! In the taste - this is typical of Kilchoman - comes next to the variation of a potato-cooked fruit fruits of the usual, delicate-floral character of the spirit, supplemented by this time much more medically than usual at Kilchoman acting smoke and just strong fruity sweetness, however never sticky or unpleasant, but on the contrary great and just a little bitterness gets to compensate. Almost one would like to attest some complexity. Wonderful! Incredible!

Aroma: sweet smoke, wet earth, delicate peat, burnt pine forest, dry moss, grilled exotic fruits, sweet red fruits, blackberries, blueberries, raspberries, dirt, dust, chocolate plums, rotten orchard fruit, honey, caramel, alcohol is undetectable Taste: sweet, pleasant, oily, lots of overripe forest fruits, white pepper, cloves, cinnamon, honey, dirt, dust, tobacco, delicate salty smoke, chocolate, a bit of wax Finish: sweet but slightly sour finish with dust, dirt, salty smoke, earthy, peaty, dusty furniture, honey, alcohol slightly noticeable Score: 89.5/100 rounded up ????

Today I will describe one of the best bottles that I have ever had the opportunity to drink. It is not without significance that I also tried it blindly and I am still impressed. Without further ado, it's also one of the best Kilchomans overall, and also with the highest power%;) Kilchoman Fourth Edition, Small Batch Release, bottled specifically for the distillery community. It was created by combining three first-fill Sauternes wine barrels, numbers 740, 790/2010 and 28/2011; individual distillation: November 17, 2010, December 8, 2010, January 26, 2011, and bottling took place on November 9, 2015. 60% ABV, 50 PPM. Bottle 85 of 909. Nose: subdued sweetness of red fruits; lots of raisins, strawberries, raspberry jam, blueberries, blackberries, chocolate-covered cherries, turning into dried fruits that enhance tannins, unripe and ripe grapes (alternating); honey, beeswax, cocoa, lemon and grass, all accompanied by smoke and peat, which do not suppress anything, but rather constitute a base for the rest of the scents. Tongue: a mass of overripe red fruits, strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, jams, cherries in white chocolate, dried fruit, grapes (unripe and ripe); honey, beeswax, cocoa, licorice, lemon and grass, still accompanied by smoke and peat without muffling. Finish: long, warming, with overripe strawberries, leather, salt, ash and smoke from the fire. To sum up: this bottle is a real Kilchoman symphony. Everything works as it should, each element has its purpose, and tasting leads to discovering new layers of organoleptic experiences. Consistent, harmonious and delicious! Rating: 93. Ps. Among other things, you could tell by the color that it was Porto and not Sauternes, but I think it was influenced by the STR process, which someone forgot to mention :)