@cascode

@Soba45 Unfortunately they did not manage the sound quality very well for most of the videos, but thankfully the two featuring Anthony (the warehouse interview and the following Q&A) were very good.

@cascode Ah nice i saw the one about the farm they have quite interesting

@Jan-Case @Soba45 In case you have not seen it there is an excellent Youtube video Kilchoman did as part of their virtual 2020 Feis Ile coverage in which Anthony Wills talks about maturation https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9JeJ9bZnCYw Tl;Dr - it was just a random batch of dark hoggies they happened to dump that year. There's a lot more very interesting stuf in the video than just that - highly recommended. I've done a masterclas with Anthony and he's just as open and enthusiastic when leading a tasting, and he pulls no punches at all, either about his own whisky or some others!

@Jan-Kaselitz I think it’s the reseller making sure customers can identify this batch as being the one they have heard about on forums. AFAIK Kilchoman have not released anything labelled as “Sanaig Dark” or the like. @Soba45 As Kilchoman’s stock slowly gets older (they are still a very young distillery) they probably just have better and better cask selections available. I bet the next batches of Sanaig and Loch Gorm will be similarly dark and full-flavoured, and that will be the trend going forward.

@Jan-Kaselitz The plot thickens! :-) Maybe we are overthinking it all. Perhaps rate all the variants together, let the dust and can always split them out in the future if required

@Soba45 well that’s the thing - the identification “Dark Batch” is not on the bottle or label. They didn’t print that somewhere - it is just part of the description. Not even sure if that description comes from Kilchoman directly or just form the reseller.

@Jan-Kaselitz Hmm interesting. So as cascode mentioned they may have stuck to the blend ratio but deliberately chose casks that resulted in a slightly different profile than usual. Even a more nuanced way of differentiating the batches. If they think it is distinct enough to name it differently and call it out then perhaps it should be a different entry?

@Soba45 @cascode The sample I had I purchased as “Sanaig 2019 Dark Batch” and in the description it says: “Kilchoman made a fortuitous stroke of fortune with this batch! The dark color results from much more active exSherry casks that were used - the much darker color compared to previous Sanaig batches did not materialize the bottling! ... and the taste here is much "chocolatier" than other Sanaig batches.”

@cascode Aha very interesting. I lumped Loch Gorm and them together and then extrapolated the approach they took to Loch Gorm to the other two... would be interesting to know why the 'Dark' label if it's meant to be the same as previous releases though?

@Soba45 The 2016 Sanaig was the first world-wide release which is probably why that bottle has a date (it was first bottled in 2015 with limited distribution, but proved to be so popular they immediately made it a core range). Sanaig and Machir Bay are specified by the distillery as core expressions with standard recipes. They contain precisely the same peated distillate (50ppm) and are composed from the same casks – the only difference between them is that when they are finally married for bottling Machir Bay is made bourbon-heavy (90/10) while Sanaig is made Oloroso-heavy (70/30). Everything else made by Kilchoman (100% Islay, Loch Gorm, Single Cask releases, special finishes, etc.) is considered to be a batch release and the precise casking information is available on the archive section of their website.

@cascode Yes it gets a bit blurry with these type of whiskies as they are as you say the same core expression however they are unlike traditional core ranges not blended for consistency rather there appears to be a wider flavour profile than traditionally produced each year. Loch Gorm has changed quite a lot over the years. Yeah not sure why the 'Dark' naming convention. I have one Sanaig which on the bottle is specifically '2016' edition...a bit all over the place!

@Soba45 I know the 2019 expression is popularly being referred to as the "dark Sanaig", but it's not an official name or description, is it? It probably just included older casks. @Jan-Kaselitz There’s not much point in batch-specific entries for Sanaig as it’s a core expression with a fixed bourbon/sherry proportion of 30/70. It would make sense for Distiller to move all the reviews from the other entry to this one and rename this simply “Kilchoman Sanaig”.

@Soba45 ok thanks - I found it. It’s a 2019 but I think I won’t request a new Distiller entry since next to the official 2016 Distiller entry there is only one other from 2018 and people don’t seem to bother making a new whisky entry for every single year.

@Jan-Kaselitz ah nice! i've checked a few of mine. The date is located at the back of the bottle below the rear label near the base. All 4 of my bottles had it in the exact same place

@Soba45 I bought a bottle of Sanaig today but I can’t find the bottling year anywhere on the bottle. How did you guys find your batch year?

@Soba45 never heard it before, i now need the Sanaig Dark

@Jan-Kaselitz i never knew there was a Dark version of this!! great, amazing news

@Scott_E never had it. i want to taste it. will look for it. and btw, port finishes are not my favorites too.

@Scott_E lol, ny review was 3 years ago when it wasn't that popular. it is a great whisky

@Soba45 hi! just saw this comment. back on 2017 this one was note as popular as it is now. great whisky though

@PBMichiganWolverine Nice! Hope you enjoy :-). It was awesome upon first opening but faded somewhat towards the end of the bottle so the sample might not reflect my original tasting notes and views. I just remembered I have a sample of the 2018 so I'll open that and compare to the 2019. Apparently the 2020 is now out as well.

@Soba45 yup—-I think you did send that...now that you remind me, I think I’ll have it for this evening’s pour

@Soba45 @PBMichiganWolverine Ahh, makes sense.

@Jan-Kaselitz Ah interesting the 2019 Sanaig they've added the description 'dark' to. Must have spent more time in sherry...looks awesome!

@Scott_E @PBMichiganWolverine Ah i reread my note in the cold sober light of day and I meant to say "it is one of the cheapest". Combination of app that kept glitching and freezing and me not paying attention properly as to the results of what i was typing! My wife did warn me about sending work emails at the same time late at night after a handful of drinks so now I'm wondering what I typed up there also! Ah yes I really think whilst in the past some of their special releases topped things for me it's now their core range which shines even more. I think i sent a sample of the 2019 Loch Gorm to you Pranay...or maybe as I thought you'd tried it just Lee..cant remember :-)

Very interesting. I have a sample of the Sanaig Dark Batch here. Looking forward to trying it now having read your review.

@PBMichiganWolverine Loch Gorm was quite good. Agreed, Kilchoman does it right.

@Scott_E @Soba45 mine is Loch Gorm...something about peat + sherry. Generally, I found Kilchoman producing either 4 or just shy of 5 star stuff. The only let down was their port cask

@Soba45 agreed, one of my favorites too. Though, around where I am, it’s relatively affordable. $68

It's not its one of their cheapest offerings and one of my favorites in the core range. Nice review :-)