Next up in wine-bothered peated whisky week is a young Kilchoman. This is a madeira finish that was bottled for Spec’s in Texas and released in 2019. (The cask number is 763/2012 but this was distilled in 2011.) I don’t know that I’ve ever had a madeira finished Kilchoman—though I have enjoyed madeira finishes/double maturations from other distilleries (Springbank most prominently). Let’s hope this one is better than Monday’s Ballechin.

Kilchoman 7, 2011, Madeira Finish (56.8%; for Spec’s; from a bottle split)

Nose: Sweet peat off the top (pipe tobacco) and quite a bit of ash; a slight vegetal note as well (bell pepper). On the next few sniffs the sweet notes include charred pork; some dried orange peel behind as well. With time the peat backs off and quite a bit of vanilla emerges. A squirt of water and there’s a big hit of cream and coffee cake; a little bit of apricot as well under all that.

Palate: Comes in with pretty sweet smoke here as well—sweeter than on the nose, almost too sweet. Quite phenolic on the second sip and there’s the orange peel too. A big bite at full strength; rich texture. Gets saltier as it sits and there’s some dark chocolate and some black coffee now too to counter the sweetness. With more time it gets more acidic and there’s also some chilli pepper and some pencil lead. Time to add water. Less sweet and more acidic now; and there’s more of the pencil lead; the tar from the finish pops out a bit earlier.

Finish: Long. The phenolic smoke is the top note at first; the sweeter notes then take over at the end—and it’s almost like caramel candy now. Some tar here with time. As on the palate with water.

Comments: This is very good for such a young whisky. The cask was active but not overly so and the peat and wine cover up obvious youth. Meanwhile the wine does not separate at all on the palate or finish. Neat, it is just a bit too sweet for my liking but that improves with water.

Rating: 87 points.