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Kilchoman Loch Gorm (2021 Edition)
Single Malt — Islay, Scotland
Reviewed
November 6, 2021 (edited April 20, 2022)
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).
110.0
USD
per
Bottle
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Great point....I had forgotten in my current whiskey influenced status
I know. This day comes only once per year: time change gets us an extra hour of drinking time tonight.
Just messin Skill. Up late drinking in your favorite state of Texas....more messin
Haha. I can probably say why you wouldn't do it, but not why (or how) someone would.
Hey question: why would you roast...then boil.....jk
Nice review, I totally enjoyed Machir Bay and Sanaig and Im sure I will love this when I pull the trigger