Kilchoman Machir Bay (2018 Edition)

Dear Kilchoman - Your participation in whisky festivals is damaging your reputation. That’s my conclusion after tasting your core range with a brand ambassador last night. I have tried your whiskies many times at festivals and always thought them fine, but nothing more. I realize now that they are much better than that if sampled outside the environment of a festival, where one’s frazzled palate tends to remember only the biggest flavor bombs. These are sophisticated whiskies best savored in isolation. What’s more, I do not recall anyone at these festivals ever explaining to me why you have so many variants, a factor I always found too confusing to warrant my time, but I now get that there is a logical progression from the 90% bourbon cask of Machir Bay through the 50/50 bourbon/sherry of Sanaig to the 100% Oloroso of Loch Gorm. With my appreciation thus recalibrated, I can now declare that I enjoyed all three of this core range. The Machir Bay, which I’m told is technically a five-year-old, has a nose of white pepper and vanilla. The body is crisp, malty and creamy with a hint of sweetness on the finish. It’s technically excellent and perfectly quaffable, if not quite exciting enough to warrant a place in my liquor cabinet. Date stamp on the bottle implied it was a 2019 batch, but I don’t think we need another entry in Distiller.

Kilchoman tasting evening at The Oak Barrel, Sydney, June 25th 2019: Whisky #1 Nose: Bright, crisp cereal aromas and a gentle fragrance of smoke are the first impressions. The smoke is not a strong medicinal peat-reek but rather a more restrained and floral smoky aroma. It’s reminiscent of campfire smoke some distance away, carrying the occasional waft of something lightly perfumed. There’s a musky tone like white marshmallows and some vanilla and citrus notes threading about. Palate: Smoky and fruity on the arrival – the smoke is much more apparent on the palate than the nose. As it develops, a seaweed note becomes apparent along with some citrus fruits and a background light butterscotch flavor. There is also some mild sweet chili sauce and ginger spice. Adding a dash of water mellows the spicy character and develops more fruit. The texture is pleasantly neutral. Finish: Medium. The subtle smoke that has been present from the first sniff gradually diminishes and gives way to the fruity notes and a sweet, crisp aftertaste. Overall this is an elegantly fresh young whisky with character and style. It’s mild, but not lightweight, with a bright nose that avoids being spirity or hard. It has a supple quality that is refreshing and brisk, but not acrid. It does seem very slightly disconnected, like a band that's not playing in the groove, but a dash of water files off any residual sharp edges, balances the profile and is highly recommended. In comparison to earlier bottlings of Machir Bay this release seems more refined. I recall sampling it 5 years ago and being struck by how obviously young it tasted, but that brashness has gone now. I was impressed by how well it compared to the rest of the whiskies on the evening and kept coming back for another taste. Machir Bay is part of Kilchoman's core range and it's arguably the most revealing expression of their distillate. Earlier bottlings had a year of release statement on the front label, but as far as I know this has not been so since 2014. Since then you have had to examine the back of the bottle to find the bottle code (this tasting was from a bottle of batch 18/54). “Good” : 84/100 (3.75 stars)

Brine and sea-salt dominates the nose, a heavy smoke on the palate typical of Islay whisky. Have to be in the right mood for this aggressive flavor.