One more review to close out the week in Islay whiskies and the month in whisky reviews. Like Monday’s Bowmore and Wednesday’s Ardbeg, this Kilchoman is an official release. It is not, however, one that was widely available: it was a single cask bottled for a private group, one of several casks from 2006 and 2007 that were privately bottled. The cask was a bourbon barrel. Bourbon barrels always make me worry about the possibility of too much vanilla etc. in the whisky, but, on the other hand, I do also really like bourbon cask Kilchoman; and so I’m also quite looking forward to this one. Let’s see where it falls.

Kilchoman 10, 2006 (57.9%; for Clauso & Friends; bourbon barrel 112/2006; from a bottle split)

Nose: A big wave of peat off the top, and it’s a mix of phenolic notes with charred woodsmoke and toasted cereals. On the second sniff there’s ink and more coastal notes below that (kelp, brine). Continues in this vein with some added sweetness (a touch of creme brulee). A few drops of water pull out quite a bit of citronella and meld it with the medicinal notes and the creme brulee.

Palate: Comes in with the phenols accented—the full medicinal complex. Quite approachable at full strength with rich texture. On the second sip the char expands and picks up a fair bit of coarsely ground black pepper; some lime in the background. Sweeter as it goes with the coastal complex showing up here as well: shells, kelp, that kind of thing. With time the salt pops out earlier. Okay, let’s see what water does for it. Ah yes, the char recedes, the lime expands and merges with the medicinal complex and the pepper (which goes from black to white).

Finish: Long. Nothing new here: the phenolic peat crests and makes room for the char; salt at the very end. As on the palate with water.

Comments: Gives the 10/12 yo cask strength stuff from the more established distilleries on Islay a run for their money. Sure, this is a single cask, but it would be great if Kilchoman would make a bourbon cask 10 CS a fixture of their regular range. Anyway, I liked this from the get-go but really liked it a lot with water, which took it to Caol Ila/Port Ellen territory.

Rating: 88 points.