Kilchoman STR Cask Matured (2019 Edition)

Nose: true peat bog peat, not the medicinal Laphroaig peat, or the burning tire fire peat, but a true damp dirty earth lit ablaze. Salt, olive oil (the good thick stuff), cheese curds, dried wood, with just a hint of fruits, mostly a dark cherry. Taste: cereal, hay, bitter wood, Chestnut, grass, and a bit of pie crust. Experience: eating a cheese board. Like the whole board wood and all. Cheese, olives, meat, salt... Wood. It's the whole board with everything on it. But in a fantastic way. If you want a meal in a whiskey this is it.

To make a great wine cask matured whisky, get rid of most of the wine-soaked wood. Start by shaving its inside to remove some of that stained interior. Then toast it using wood chips to caremalise the exposed wood. After that, char it - throw more fire at the damn thing. Fire good, wine bad seems to be the message. Then throw away the cask - there’s still a hint of wine in it, after all. Okay, I went a step too far, but the lesson of this successful maturation experiment seems to be that a little wine cask goes a long way. Shaving, toasting and re-charring appears on the evidence of this bottling to provide an exceptional integration between cask and whisky. The influence of the wine is evident from the hint of red berries on the nose, but there’s also sea salt that speaks to the spirit. There’s sweetness on the palate too, but it’s mainly oily, savory and spicy, even a little meaty. The berries return on the finish, which leaves a long caramel aftertaste. All in all, it’s one of the most successful red-wine cask whiskies I’ve tried, better than many of the Longrow Reds and reminiscent of the best parts of the recent Bunnahabhain Bordeaux cask. Not a typical Kilchoman by any means, but a delicious diversion generously distributed in 14,500 bottles.

While pouring samples out last night to send to the crew ( @LeeEvolved, @Generously_Paul @Scott_E and others ), I had to try a few sips. Granted, it wasn’t even a full 1 ounce...barely 2-3 sips, so who knows if that’s enough to form a full picture. This here is a new Kilchoman, matured in STR casks. It’s a limited release, very much an experiment. STR—so, “Shaved”, “Toasted”, and “Re-Charred” red wine casks. Theoretically that would remove the red wine tannins and replacing it with more vanilla, while keeping the berry flavor from red wine cask. I’m a huge fan of Kilchoman. And with the exception of the port cask, every release I’ve had of theirs has been 4 star+. I love how the peat is prominent front and center, but not overpowering, and complimented by other flavors. This one seems like it’s no exception. I get summer berries on the nose, with an earthy peaty taste with more red berries. Finish is long and lingering lemon-peat. I still like their Red Wine cask best, but this here at $70 is damn good as well.