2 December 2019
Kilchoman 2010 Vintage & Kilchoman 100% Islay 9th Edition
Thanks to Kilchoman, we were given the opportunity to sample two wonderful new releases: the 2010 Vintage and the 100% Islay 9th Edition.
And since we’re a huge fan of the first 100% Islay releases, we decided to have them accompanied by the 100% Islay Inaugural and 3th Edition. Just to compare their earlier work to the recent additions. We’ll briefly let you know how they compare, a full review about those two older Editions are coming soon. But first:
Kilchoman 2010 Vintage:
The 2010 Vintage has matured on 42 bourbon barrels and 3 sherry butts before they were married together. It’s bottled at 48% ABV:
Tasting notes
Nose
Sweet, bananas, caramel, band aid, Galia melon, WD-40, winegums and café noir
Palate
Mocha, spicy, oak and band aid, white wine
Finish
Grassy, white grape, licorice, chalky, band aid, water colour paint, smoked ham
If we didn’t know better, we would’ve guessed some white wine casks were used. It’s wonderfully sweet and creamy, with some interesting notes of banana and mocha. But is undeniably a Kilchoman, with its notes of band aid, pear and sweet peat smoke.
Score: 88
Kilchoman 100% Islay 9th Edition:
The 100% Islay 9th Edition is bourbon cask only and it’s bottled at 50%:
Tasting notes
Nose
Buttery, sweet apple and cinnamon cake, whipped cream, lightly smoky, pancakes, pineapples, almonds, pear and old newspapers
Palate
Smooth, subtle and sweet, with vanilla, wood, pear and lavender
Finish
Drying, sweet, band aid, pineapple, dry white wine, subtle smoke, wood oven, eucalyptus, butter, oil, sulphur and pear. Nicely balanced.
The funny thing is that the 100% Islay Editions all have something that lets you tell them apart from each other, while never departing from the great core style. The 9th Edition is the most modest of the 3, but is has some nice buttery notes of apple cake and warm band aid. The Inaugural is more like a sweet and beacy sand, it offers more of a challenge. The 3rd is most recognizable because of it’s sweet notes of vanilla ice cream and a spiciness that resembles something like rum or wine. Very interesting, but most of all: incredibly tasty!
The 100% Islay 9th edition gets a score of 87
We’ll be back with our notes on the Inaugural, 2nd, 3rd and 4th 100% Islay Editions.
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