The Basics:
Do I recommend it?: Yes, ish.
Availability: Ish? See below.
ABV: 46%
Presentation: Unchillfiltered and natural color
General information: A very early batch.
Bottling type: Proprietary
Character: Peaty, earthy, and citric.
Score: 90/100
The details:
Kilchoman parish is where the MacBeatha/Beaton family first settled in around 1300 upon coming over from Ireland. The family were, by heredity, doctors, and there is speculation that they may have been the first to bring the mysteries of distillation to Scotland, and perhaps even that Scottish distilling originally took place near Kilchoman. It is therefore not coincidental that Anthony Wills chose the site to build the first new distillery on Islay in more than a century in 2005.
It is a small farm distillery, intentionally designed to be able to meet significant portions of its barley requirements onsite. The first mature spirit was released at 3 years old, and since then, numerous bottlings have followed. I don’t think this was part of the inaugural batch, but it was the first Kilchoman whisky I ever saw for sale, either in person or online. It came in a bottle shaped a bit differently to the current Kilchoman offerings and was certainly on the earlier end of their releases.
The apparent hesitations regarding recommendation and availability stem mostly from the fact that this tasting comes from a bottling no longer extant; the current version of Machir Bay certainly comes in a bottle that looks different, and it may also have a slightly different maturation. I actually haven’t had any newer Machir Bay, but I’ve had other whiskies from Kilchoman and on the basis of those and this, I’m guessing current Machir Bay is at least as good as what is reviewed here.
Kilchoman Machir Bay, 46% abv
Bottling Information:
Expression: Machir Bay
Bottler: Proprietor
Range: Core
Bottle Code: none
Presentation: Unchillfiltered and natural color
Details: Bottled 2013, this was a very early release of Machir Bay.
Price: $50-70
Availability: The current version is quite widely available.
Distillery Information:
Region: Islay
Location: Rockside Farm, Argyllshire
Geography: Inland
Date Founded: 2005
Owner: Kilchoman Distillery Co
Website: https://kilchomandistillery.com/
Capacity: 460,000
Plant Summary: MASH TUN: Semi-Lauter; WASHBACKS: 10 Stainless steel; STILLS: 4; HEAT SOURCE: Steam; CONDENSER: Shell and Tube
Total expressions sampled: 4
Overall distillery score: S-
Tasting notes:
Nose: A lot of smoke—earth, wood fire, smoked salted kipper. Dark chocolate with sea salt. Elmer’s glue? After a while it’s sweeter than immediately apparent.
Body: Quite light.
Palate: Smoky, appetizing, rather dry. Some citric tang—lime? Grapefruit? Charcoal, tar, turpentine, salt, very bitter cocoa. Although there are maritime notes, the effect of the peat is more akin to a peated mainland malt (e.g. Ardmore). Austere.
Finish: Lingering, and becoming more savoury. Pepper, woodsmoke.
Score: 90/100
Who should buy it?: People who like peat in an earthier and more mineralic vein.
Overall thoughts: A cracking young peated malt! Although I haven’t had more recent Machir Bays, my overall experience with Kilchoman inclines me to trust that more recent batches are at least up to the fine standards of this rather ancient batch.
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Whisky Considered 