I really like Kilchoman and it is my favorite peat Islay distillery so far followed by Ardbeg and Bunnahabhain. Their range is huge already although they just started production in 2005. Impressive what they managed to achieve in these few years. What made this particular expression so interesting to me was the fact that is has a slightly higher ABV with 50% and it is a red wine STR cask maturation. It is 7 years old (2012 / 2019) but for Kilchoman I think age doesn’t matter too much. I’m sure that observation will change though once we get the chance to taste a 20y old one but for now I don’t miss anything in their whisky. Nose: the incredible Kilchoman signature peat smoothly embedded in cooked berries in vanilla pudding topped with soft buttery caramel sauce - and a cold ash in the background which adds a certain coolness to the nose. Palate: exiting stuff. A lot less sweet than expected. The peat is right up front and dominates the palate from start to finish. There is barely any sweetness at first. Next to a rough ashy peat it has some very refined but limited smoothness that reminds me of a fruitbar made from cooked orchard fruits and berries. Later it gets malty sweeter with every sip. Finish: peaty, salty and briny smooth with a peppery heat that goes on forever. It is so very clean and defined. It has a lot of character and is very honest and pure. It is a quite demanding experience but so enjoyable and interesting and has a developing taste over the course of a dram. Very exiting. (I will return to this taste after I progressed into the bottle in a few months.)