Kilchoman 9 yo Single Cask 1004/2010 for Roco Wine & Spirits, Sacramento

Cask Number: 1004/2010

Cask type: Quarter Casks, Bourbon Barrel

Distillation Date: 20.10.2010

Bottling Date: 1.10.2020

Age: 9 yo

Strength: 55,2%

Phenol level: 50 ppm

Number of bottles: 238

Bottle volume: 0,75 l

Market: USA

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This bottling, realised by the American whisky club “200 Club” via the Californian wine and spirits merchant Roco Wine & Spirits and released on 25.2.2021, is something very special. It is a double maturation: the whisky was first matured for five years in two quarter casks and then transferred to a bourbon barrel, where it matured for another 4 years, 11 months and 14 days.

As the name suggests, quarter casks are only a quarter of the size of a 500-litre cask, and the significantly larger inner surface area of the cask in relation to the volume leads to more intensive contact with the wood of the maturing distillate. However, too long storage in a quarter cask leads relatively quickly to the wood tones coming to the fore in a disturbing way. For these reasons, quarter casks are usually only used by some distilleries for finishing.

Kilchoman filled about 100 of these casks on a trial basis at the end of 2010 and then released a Quarter Cask Release from 95 of these casks in 2016, in addition to a few Single Cask Releases. For the remaining casks, it was apparently decided to decant them into bourbon barrels. The result of this unconventional double maturation can now be tasted here for the first time.

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