Kilchoman

Kilchoman was founded in 2005 at Rockside Farm on the western side of Islay, the first new distillery on the island in well over a century. It is independently owned by the family of its founder, Anthony Wills, and the whisky under the Kilchoman name is distilled at the distillery itself.

What sets Kilchoman apart is its farm approach. Some of its barley is grown on the farm and malted in the distillery's own floor maltings, while the rest is heavily peated malt bought in from the Port Ellen maltings. The spirit runs through small stills and gives a young, smoky, clean malt with a sweet, citrus edge.

The core range starts with Machir Bay, a vatting of bourbon and sherry casks, alongside Sanaig, which leans more on sherry casks and also appears at cask strength. Loch Gorm is the sherry cask release, appearing in yearly editions, and the 100% Islay series, such as the 8th and 10th Editions, uses only barley grown and malted at the farm.

Because the distillery is young, collectors also follow its early bottlings, including the Inaugural release and the seasonal releases of 2009, as well as Fèis Ìle bottlings, single casks and limited cask finishes such as the Fino Sherry Cask Matured editions and Casado. Small batches and single casks appear regularly, so check the edition or cask number when comparing prices.