PBMichiganWolverine
Kilchoman Fino Sherry Matured (2020 Edition)
Single Malt — Islay, Scotland
Reviewed
November 22, 2020 (edited December 29, 2020)
This is Kilchoman’s newest offering, their first fully fino sherry matured. I don’t think I’ve had many fino matured whiskeys , and I’m no sherry expert. But a quick google on fino sherry shows that it’s one of the sweeter variants, and strong tastes of almonds. I’m expecting the sweetness somewhere between oloroso and PX I guess, and I’d imagine the Islay character to match well against it.
So...about 14k bottles of this. To me, that’s not “limited” despite the marketing tag. I only bought a sample though...had no interest in a full bottle. What surprised me the most immediately is the color. It’s pale yellow...so, maybe the casks weren’t as active? The nose is immediately bonfires and smoke. Taste is really well balanced—-you get the campfire but then followed by a dry-smoky sweetness. It’s not overly sweet, thankfully, but the sweetness is there, just plays second fiddle to the smoke.
If you like your Islays sweeter, this may not be for you. But if you like the upfront smoke, with a bit of almond-y sweetness, this is worth the attention. I think I bottle is about $60-70. For that price, it’s worth it.
5.0
USD
per
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@PBMichiganWolverine Fino is paler in colour but certainly not sweet - it is the driest of the sherry varieties. Manzanilla is basically a type of fino. I find most sherry to be intrinsically dry in profile, apart from PX which is very sweet and oloroso which is about half-way, but still on the dry side. Watch this, you will be glad you did: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0xzggTA1aa4
@Soba45 i think it’s been out a while now. And despite the “limited” tag, seems readily available. At last check, at least
Ah interesting they have done a fino.Haven't been a huge fino finish fan in the past one of my least favourite wine finishes. How you get hold of a sample so quick?
@Anthology @Richard-ModernDrinking $120 seems like a lot for this. I thought I saw this in the $60-70 range, but that was probably in TWE UK site
@ContemplativeFox @Anthology I’ve tried a Bunna Palo Cortado...wasn’t worth the cost. Was just a bit too unrefined
I'm not sure I've seen another manzanilla finish @Anthology. I'm looking forward to hearing your take on it :)
@PBMichiganWolverine I think you're probably pretty much right on that. I've never tried palo cortado myself, but I've tried Amontillado, which I think is slightly lighter and I'd describe as medium-light overall.
@Richard-ModernDrinking Yup I picked mine up last week for $115 and quick search on WS shows a $120+ avg in the US
@PBMichiganWolverine Bunnahabhain just released a 12yr fully matured manzanilla cask. Hoping the Bunna name + track record of the moine releases means it’s great. Well it better be cos I just ordered one blindly 🤨
@ContemplativeFox that helps —so manzanilla and fino are light and sweet while Oloroso and PX are dark and sweet. I’ve seen Palo Cortado as well. I think that starts as fino , so probably light and sweet
As a side note for anyone wondering more about sherry, here's a solid rundown of the major types https://www.sherrynotes.com/sherry-types/. As I understand it, only fino and manzanilla are light enough to be confused with a white wine.
I understand that the light color corresponds roughly with lighter flavor, so it's reasonable to expect limited flavor coming from the sherry in this even if aged for a decent amount of time @PBMichiganWolverine.
@ScotchingHard that explains the light color. I thought all sherrys are dark, like OLoroso or PX. Shows how very little I know of sherry
I think this is north of $100 in the US.
Fino is a white wine, so the pale color is expected. I find fino nutty and pretty dry, so the almonds make sense as well.
@ContemplativeFox I was just surprised by that light color. My only other fino point of reference is the Kavalan ...which is dark as night. So you’re right, this probably speaks more to the quality of the distillate
Hmm, you've made me think some more about what value the fino is likely to be actually adding @PBMichiganWolverine . Since fino has such a light flavor, Kilchoman + fino being successful could just mean that the Kilchoman was already good and the fino didn't ruin it.
@ContemplativeFox Kilchoman is seldom bad—-I’ve had them as 4-4.75 for the most part. I think the only one I didn’t like was their port cask one. This one, I’d put somewhere between the Sanaig ( better ), Loch Gorm ( better), and Machir Bay (not as good as this ). Their wine cask one was stunning —but sold out in minutes
I've only seen a couple of fino matured whiskies, but the opinions of them were fairly positive. I'd expected it to be a gimmick, but I'm glad to be wrong.