Kilchoman Loch Gorm (2021 Edition)

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Very sorry, but not overly so. Some sweetness at the end. Nice balance

Light peat on nose, lovely body, caramel, chocolate, very light peat, umami. Medium finish

N: Doesn't get much more Islay than this: vegetables roasted over a peat fire, then boiled in a sea water brine. (Don't ask me why you would roast and then boil.) Then there's a rush of notes all jumbled together: red fruit and red wine, vanilla, graham cracker, berries, lemon, honey, tea, sugar cookie, mango, citrus... It just keeps going. Bread notes come later. The peat is undeniably Islay with a profile that lands somewhere between Lagavulin and Bruichladdich. It is pervasive and always there, but is also always earthy, fragrant, and refined. P: Rich, robust, well rounded. Classic vanilla and caramel notes, lemon cake, honey, floral notes. More of the cooked vegetables and peat, just a dash of sea spray. Earthy, piney, slightly mineral. Oily and a bit salty. Late mid-palate some red fruit notes lay on top of a rich fudge like base - it's not quite chocolate, more like a hazelnut-vanilla-chocolate fudge. Finish is delicate and a bit on the short side. Lemon, honey, sweetened white tea. Only a dash of cinnamon spice heat - just enough to note it. Closes where it begins with a classic scotch caramel. Picked this up at the same time as the PX Sherry limited edition. Thought both were excellent, so I jumped on a USA Small Batch shortly thereafter. Also excellent - probably the best of the group. Then snagged the last Machir Bay gift set (two rocks glasses - oooh pretty!) on the shelf on a random Costco run. Also excellent. I love the Kilchoman peat character - it's earthy and perfume fragrant like Lagavulin, but less aggressive with more of the delicate floral notes/character you get from something like the Port Charlotte 10 year. I love both of those profiles - this is a fine marriage of both. This is my new favorite Islay distillery. Four winners out of four buys; plus they seem to really know how to get more out of their barrels because each of those four are really quite different. Ready to pick up anything they offer. Loch Gorm feels like the most classic Islay of the bunch I've mentioned. Great place to start, but I find myself favoring the sherried bottles. That said, this is still an excellent scotch and I would recommend grabbing a bottle if you see one - they are relatively limited (but not, best I can tell, subject to secondary market pricing).

I paid too much for this dram, but still a good dram. The typical islay smoke and underneath you get the butterscotch, pear and brown sugar.

(Good Spirits Co. Glasgow – Virtual Whisky Tasting, 09 April 2021). Nose: Peat, smoke, rye bread, lemmon drizzle, dark spices. Hints of ash/burned wood. Palate: Wood / roasted nuts, dark chocolate, cloves & allspice. There is a little dried fruit (dates & figs) as a background note. Finish: Ash/wood. Damp smoke, dry sherry, tobacco/liquorice/leather. Lightly sour on the aftertaste. Well balanced between damp wood and peat smoke, and dried dark fruits. Lots of nice dry notes with a cigar smoke finish. Lovely creamy mouthfeel. Nice dram. Matured in 24 Oloroso sherry butts from 2011 & 2012 1 of 17,000 bottles 50ppm Came 1st out of the six drams, with 38% of the final vote for favourite of the night. 88% of those present said they enjoyed the whisky.