Fèis Ìle 2020: Kilchoman Open Day Programme Announced

Due to the cancellation of Fèis Ìle 2020, this year’s Islay Festival Fèis Ìle is known to be held virtually. This means that from 23.5.2020 to 30.5.2020, the individual distilleries will present themselves on their respective days with a more or less detailed online programme including tastings, auctions, virtual tours, discussion groups and music. As usual, many of the distilleries have also brought out a special Fèis Ìle bottling.

The Kilchoman Open Day will be Thursday, May 28. Today the distillery presented the following programme for this day:

12 noon (Islay Time) – BARLEY – We talk all things barley, cows, sheep and Islay with General Manager, Islay Heads.

13.00 – MALTING – Then on to the malt floor to meet up with Maltman, Derek Scott, to discover the art of floor malting.

14.00 – DISTILLING – We discuss the intricacy of stills and the distillation process with Production Manager, Robin Bignal.

15.00 – CASKS – Then off to the warehouses for an overview of our maturing stocks with Anthony Wills, Kilchoman Founder.

16.00 – BOTTLING – Last but not least we take a look inside the bottling hall with Bottling Manager, Michal Besser.

18.00 – LIVE TASTING – GEORGE & PETER’S CORE RANGE (4 x 20ml packs with tasting glass available Tues 12th May -£19.99) – George & Peter Wills taste through the best known core range and limited edition Kilchoman’s including the Machir Bay, Sanaig, Loch Gorm 2020 and 100% 9th Edition.

  • Machir Bay – Core Expression – Our signature peated single malt is a vatting of Kilchoman matured in a high proportion of bourbon casks with a small sherry cask influence.
  • Sanaig – Core Expression – Although also matured in both sherry and bourbon casks, Sanaig has a high proportion of oloroso influence, giving a vastly different character to the whisky.
  • Loch Gorm 2020 – Limited Edition – The 2020 edition of Loch Gorm is a vatting of 21 oloroso sherry butts from 2007, 2008, 2009 and 2011.
  • 100% Islay 9th Edition – Limited Edition – Distilled from our 2007 and 2009 barley crops, the 9th edition is a vatting of 43 ex-bourbon barrels matured for over 9 years in our on-site dunnage warehouses. Bottled at 50% abv, we’ve released a total of 12,000 bottles.

19.00 – LIVE TASTING – ANTHONY WILLS’ BARLEY AND YEAST (4 x 20ml packs with tasting glass available Tues 12th May – £25) – Anthony Wills will explore how different barley and yeast varieties influence the character of our whiskies.

  • Concerto Barley – Bourbon Barrel 784/19 – Label Info: Barley Variety: Concerto, Field:  Stone Cottage Field,  Sown May, harvested September 2018, Kilchoman Malted: Peating Level 20ppm, Cask Type: Fresh Bourbon Barrel (Buffalo Trace), Distilled 07/07/2019, Bottled 04/05/2020
  • Octavia Barley – Bourbon Barrel 935/19 – Label Info: Barley Variety: Octavia, Field:  Stone Cottage Field,  Sown May, harvested September 2018, Kilchoman Malted: Peating Level 20ppm, Cask Type: Fresh  Bourbon Barrel (Buffalo Trace), Distilled 07/07/2019, Bottled 04/05/2020
  • Mauri Yeast – Oloroso Hogshead 429/19 – Barley source: Port Ellen Malting,Peating Level: 50ppm.  Yeast: Mauri.  Cask Type: Oloroso Hogshead  Distilled: 07/05/2019  Bottled: 04/05/2020
  • Kerry Yeast – Oloroso Hogshead 497/19 – Barley source: Port Ellen Malting,Peating Level: 50ppm.  Yeast: Kerry.  Cask Type: Oloroso Hogshead  Distilled: 25/05/2019  Bottled: 04/05/2020

20.00 – LIVE TASTING / Q&A – FÈIS ÌLE RELEASE (bottles available Tues 12th May- £108)

Due to the cancellation of Fèis Ìle 2020, this years release is an online exclusive with just 2.630 bottles available at cask strength (54.2%). This release is matured in ex-bourbon barrels for a minimum of 12 years.

The Fèis Ìle Release and Tasting Packs will be available from the Kilchoman website at 2pm on Tuesday 12th May.

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