The new Kilchoman 2010 Vintage is similar to the Kilchoman Machir Bay and Sanaig single malts which both contain varying influences of these same bourbon and sherry cask matured whiskies with a range of different ages in the vattings, however the 2010 Vintage stands out as an age-statement whisky, a minimum of 9 years.

Kilchoman launch their final limited release of 2019, the Kilchoman 2010 Vintage, a 9 year old whisky and similar to last years vintage release a vatting of fresh bourbon barrels and Oloroso sherry butts. The 9 year old 2010 Vintage is a vatting of 45 casks, 42 fresh bourbon barrels and 3 Oloroso sherry butts, all filled in 2010. A total of 15,000 bottles were launched worldwide on October 16th.

Up until last years 2009 Vintage release, previous releases in the series had been matured exclusively in bourbon barrels however this year’s edition, as with the 2009 Vintage, is a vatting of both bourbon and sherry casks, this year its roughly a vatting of around 85%/15% bourbon/sherry cask matured whisky.

The distillery says that the balance of bourbon and sherry maturation is a tried and tested combination for them, it allows for both the vanilla and citrus flavours from the bourbon barrels and the rich, spicy influence of the Oloroso sherry casks to balance and complement one another.

ABV: 48%. No chill filtration or coloring as with all Kilchoman bottlings. Peat level: 40ppm

Nose
Clean, coastal notes jump out first, with sea spray, lemongrass, wet sand, and rock salt. Then bright notes of lemon zest, melted butter, sweet spices and damp smouldering peat. Sweet vanilla and citrus infused peat which is slightly rounded by a touch of sultana fruit from the sherry casks in the mix.

Palate
Dried seaweed, chimney smoke, cloves, sweet tobacca, bananna and linseed oil. Delicious sweet vanilla and lemon citrus infused peat slowly coats and clings to every corner of the mouth, it is joined by a gentle sultana fruitiness, the lemon citrus  becomes more zesty and develops a lovely sugared spicy edge.

Finish
Dried apricot, vanilla and rounded peat smoke. The juicy sherried, spicy fruit although not big still hangs in there with the lingering zesty, citrusy, sugared peat.

Balance, Body & Feel
To put it simply, this is an outstanding expression of the Kilchoman, I am pleased they repeated last years recipe for the Vintage release and kept a few sherry casks in the vatting as one more year on it is a stunning peaty bourbon cask matured whisky with just the right amount of sherry cask spirit in the mix to round it off and create a very enjoyable vintage expression of the Kilchoman.