Kilchoman Machir Bay (2020 Edition)

Sweet fireside drinker. Because of the sherry finish, it’s incredibly complex. It’s peated, yet a sherry bomb & the intermingling is fun.

Nose: farm on the ocean breeze, peach, macerated smoked cherries Mouth: typical Islay phenols (peat, iodine, smoke) with some stone fruit Finish: wisps of peat with some spiciness without the alcohol bite, burning hay, peach

Rating: 11/23 N: Smoke, light peat, tart, some seawater, sweet minerality turning into something like pear. Oh, a little banana too. A little earthiness comes out of the peat and there's some spiciness that touches a bit on chili pepper in addition to the usual cinnamon. Vanilla. My overall impress is that this is fairly light you a clean, youthful sweetness. P: Sweet with pear, banana, apple, vanilla. There's smoke and peat of course, but as the palate goes on what I find highlighted more is sort of a tartness mixed with faint suggestions of some sort of terroir. Mild chocolate with a touch of cinnamon. Sugar water. A bit of black pepper and chili pepper give some prickliness and substantial heat, the latter of which is odd with the thin mouthfeel and light flavor. Although initially substantial, the peat quickly loses its forcefulness. It does linger as a background layer of herbaceousness mixed with light oiliness to go with the smoke. There's also a slight flavor of roast meat. This seems quite youthful, but I don't get any alcohol or bad funk off of it. It's just tending toward the watery side without much flavor beyond a light coat of smoke and peat. F: Sweet with vague recollection of pears and vanilla. Then there's chocolate and chili pepper richness and heat that's a little like mole. Faint roast meat. - Conclusion - This is certainly odd for an Islay Scotch. It's like a mellow, sweet, young, fruity distillate was blended with some moderately young peated scotch. It's an unusual and interesting dram, though I can't say that I especially care for it. I wouldn't go so low as a 9 here, but a 13 is definitely too high. Picking now, I'd probably go for a 10. Actually, trying it side by side with Highland Park 12 (12/23), I think this can have an 11. Thanks for sharing this, @PBMichiganWolverine . I'd been curious to try the Machir Bay line and it was a great addition to my Kilchoman tasting series.

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I can’t get enough of Kilchoman lately. Kind of worked backward with them. Finally getting around to this one. Excellently made peated scotch. Always that touch of sweet but exactly what your looking for in a flagship islay.

Peat in the nose, nice warm taste, strong tobacco cigar-like finish

Nose :gentle peat, hazelnut Body : pepper, caraway, peat Finish: short, peat, nice dryness Overall a light whisky with nice peat an a decent spice kick. Enjoyable dram