Kilchoman 2006 - Festival 2011 - Casks 31-32

Kilchoman was built on Islay in 2005, the first new distillery to be constructed on the island in over a century. The opening of an independent farm distillery on Scotland’s most famous whisky-producing island aroused an enormous amount of interest, and the high quality of the distillery’s first releases created hysteria among whisky fans. Kilchoman’s success led to a significant expansion in 2019 with the addition of two new stills, doubling the distillery capacity to just under 500,000 litres.  

Independent bottlings of Kilchoman are relatively rare, but an enormous number of official bottlings have been released as small batches and single casks, often as exclusive bottlings for individual retailers or territories. The quality of Kilchoman’s whisky started high and has continued to improve as the first few vintages approach their third decade, making Kilchoman one of Islay’s most exciting distilleries.

Distillery bottlings are, as the name suggests, bottled by or for the distillery from which the whisky has originated and are thus often referred to as Official Bottlings or OBs. Distillery bottlings are generally more desirable for collectors and usually fetch higher prices at auction than independent bottlings. They are officially-endorsed versions of the whisky from a particular distillery and are therefore considered the truest expression of the distillery’s character.

This ideal of the distillery character is regarded so seriously by the distilleries and brand owners that casks of whisky that are considered to vary too far from the archetype are frequently sold on to whisky brokers and independent bottlers. When this happens, it is often with the proviso that the distillery’s name is not allowed to be used when the cask is bottled for fear of diminishing or damaging the distillery’s character and status.