Kilchoman 2008 Vintage 100% Islay [Private Cask] 85/2008 for M&M, Hesse(n), Germany

A very special and in several respects rare Kilchoman whisky can now be found in the store of the well-known German independent bottler Anam na h-Alba: a 15 year old 100% Islay Private Cask.

With its age of 15 years, this bottling is not only one of the oldest Kilchoman releases to date, but by far the oldest of a 100% Islay whisky – the product line made entirely on site from farms own barley (“from baryley to bottle”) and slightly weaker peated, on which Kilchoman’s self-image as Islays farm distillery is based.

It is also one of the very few private cask bottlings of a 100% Islay whisky. This is mainly due to the fact that in 2006 and 2007, when Kilchoman wanted to raise urgently needed capital for the operation of the distillery by selling freshly filled casks to private individuals, no own malt could be produced. As is well known, the distillery’s own kiln had already fallen victim to a fire in February 2006 and did not go back into operation until early 2008. Until the end of 2007, Kilchoman worked exclusively with malt from the Port Ellen Maltings. Interested parties therefore had to explicitly ask for 100% Islay casks, and for the few who did, Kilchoman fulfilled this wish at the earliest possible time, already after the official end of the Private Cask Programme, in March 2008.

But enough about the early Kilchoman story. The two owners of Private Cask No. 85/2008 from Hesse, whose first names both begin with “M” (hence the name of the release), had their cask bottled in March 2023. The import to Germany and the sale of 60 of the total of 221 bottles, which the owners wanted to put on the open market, was taken over by the company Anam na h-Alba.

We are already very excited about tasting this rare bottling and will share our impressions here shortly!

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Cask No.: 85/2008

Cask type: 1st Fill Ex-Bourbon Barrel

Date Filled: 6.3.2008

Date Bottled: 10.3.2023

Age: 15 yo

Strength: 52,2 % abv

Phenol level: approx. 20 ppm

Bottle volume: 0,7 l

Number of bottles: 233

Market: Germany

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