Taste Guide: Sauternes Cask

The sweet white wines from the French wine-growing region of Sauternes, which are produced by noble rot and not by adding alcohol, are world-famous. As the area under cultivation in the villages of Sauternes and Barsac together covers just under 2,300 hectares and the yields are only 9-25 hl/ha due to the complex production process, not only the wines produced there but also the used Sauternes casks are very expensive. The most famous wine estate is Château d’Yquem, and the Scottish whisky distilleries that were lucky enough to be able to source casks from there are very proud of this – as any whisky lover who has had the chance to experience a tasting with Bruichladdich’s legendary master blender Jim McEwan can confirm. Even though the winery forbids its name to appear on the whisky bottles, it should be said here that Château d’Yquem casks can be found not only in the Bruichladdich warehouses but also at Kilchoman.

Kilchoman sourced its first Sauternes casks from various French cooperages, including Château d’Yquem casks, but for some years now Kilchoman’s “house cooperage” Dias has been the only source of supply as, according to Anthony Wills, Dias delivers the best and most consistent quality.

The very first “Sauterne(s) Cask Release” from Kilchoman appeared on November 16, 2015 exclusively for members of the Kilchoman Club. For this 4th Club Release, three fresh Sauternes hogsheads were selected that had been filled in November and December 2010 and January 2011.

The first Sauternes bottling for a wider audience, the Sauternes Cask Matured Limited Edition, followed a year later on 7 September 2016 and continued the series of annual wine cask maturations that began in 2014. Distilled at the end of 2010 / beginning of 2011, the whisky was matured for over 5 years in fresh Sauternes casks. 6,000 bottles were bottled with an alcohol content of 50% abv.

Anthony Wills was not entirely satisfied with this bottling, however. In his opinion, the Sauternes influence here has turned out too dominant and overlays too much the typical Kilchoman notes. The whisky also lacked some structure and balance. For the second Kilchoman Sauternes Limited Release, he therefore opted for a Sauternes finish rather than full maturation. The Sauternes Cask Finish 2018 Limited Edition released on October 1, 2018 is a vatting of 30 bourbon barrels from 2012, which were subjected to a 5-month finish in Sauternes hogsheads.

The Sauternes Cask Matured 2024 Edition, the 3rd limited release of this cask type, was released at the end of May 2024. As the name suggests, this was once again a fully matured Sauternes cask maturation. In order to achieve the desired balance between the Sauternes wine cask influence and the typical Kilchoman distillery character, Kilchoman founder and master blender Anthony Wills decided to use a high proportion of 2nd fill Sauternes casks for this bottling. He selected 22% 1st fill and 78% 2nd fill casks from 2017 and 2018. Incidentally, most of the 2nd fill Sauternes casks used were the finishing casks from the 2018 bottling. Kilchoman had learnt from experience that using Sauternes casks as finishing casks for several months is the ideal preparation for subsequent use as full maturation casks. During the short finishing period, which usually lasts several months, much of the dominant Sauternes influence is extracted, leaving casks that still lend a clear Sauternes influence to the whisky that subsequently matures in them without losing structure and balance.

Among the many Kilchoman single cask bottlings released worldwide each year, Sauternes cask maturations and finishings were still relatively rare in the first few years after 2015. This has changed since 2021, when Sauternes finishes of whisky previously matured in ex-bourbon casks became one of the most popular Kilchoman single cask releases. Kilchoman aficionados can now taste whiskies with Sauternes finishing periods of between four months and more than two years. However, the number of Sauternes Single Cask full maturations released to date is still manageable and has not yet exceeded a dozen worldwide

Within the Small Batch series for selected markets, the concept of which is known to illustrate the influence of different “experimental” cask types on Kilchoman whisky, 2021 was the “Sauternes year”, similar to the single cask bottlings. Since then, numerous small batch releases with a Sauternes cask content of 20% or 25% have appeared in a number of countries.

.

Sauternes Cask bottlings from Kilchoman (finish and full maturation)

.

ReleaseCask No.Date FilledDate BottledMaturation
Sauternes cask full maturation:
Small Batch Release for The Kilchoman Club, 4th Edition740/2010, 790/2010, 28/201117.11.2010, 08.12.2010, 26.01.201109.11.2015Full maturation: 3-4 years
Sauternes Cask Matured Release 11/2010-01/201109/2016Full maturation: 5 years
Single Sauternes Cask for Delilah´s & Jack Rose26/201126.01.201105.09.2016Full maturation: 5 years
Sauternes Single Cask for The Distillery Shop739/2010 17.11.2010 19.07.2017 Full maturation: 6 years
Private Single Sauternes Cask for Kilchoman Invest792/201008.12.201023.02.2018Full maturation: 7 years
5 yo Sauternes Hogshead for LMDW´s Islay Room902/201518.11.201526.04.2021Full maturation: 5 years
Sauternes Matured Single Cask for Kilchoman Appreciation Society903/201518.11.201513.04.2022Full maturation: 6 years
Sauternes Cask Matured 2024 Edition2017, 201804/2024Full maturation: over 5 years
Sauternes cask finish:
Sauternes Finish Single Cask for The Distillery Shop209/201224.04.201229.09.2017Finish: 4 months
Sauternes Wine Cask (Finish) for Whisk-e Ltd, Japan211/201226.04.201215.01.2018Finish: 8 months
Sauternes Single Cask Finish for Bresser & Timmer, 25th Anniversary212/201226.04.201215.06.2018Finish: 1 year
Sauternes Cask Finish 2018 Edition201225.09.2018Finish: 5 months
Sauternes (Finish) Single Cask (Uniquely Islay Series – An Samhradh 2021, #3/9) 738/201317.10.201317.06.2021Finish: 6 months
Sauternes Finish Single Cask [for Smaller Markets]706/201424.09.201401.07.2021Finish: 6 months
Sauternes Finish Single Cask pour les 20 ans de V and B, France750/201318.10.201312.07.2021Finish: 8 months
Sauternes Finish Single Cask for La Société des Alcools du Québec731/201314.10.201303.08.2021Finish
Sauternes Single Cask Finish for Taiwan732/201314.10.201309.08.2021Finish
Sauternes Single Cask Finish for Taiwan711/201424.09.201409.08.2021Finish
Sauternes Single Cask Finish for Gall & Gall The Netherlands704/201424.09.201424.09.2021Finish: 9 months
7 yo Sauternes Single Cask (Finish) – ImpEx Cask Evolution 04/2021 708/2014 24.09.2014 25.09.2021 Finish: 10 months
Sauternes Single Cask Finish – Wedding Cask for Łukasz Gołębiewski716/201424.09.201422.11.2021Finish: 11 months
Sauternes Single Cask Finish for AWAS710/201424.09.201401.12.2021Finish: 11 months
Sauternes Finish Single Cask [for Smaller Markets]707/201424.09.201410.01.2022Finish: 14 months
Sauternes Finish Single Cask for the Danish Market717/201424.09.201421.01.2022Finish: 8 months
Sauternes Single Cask Finish for Japan753/201318.10.201311.02.2022Finish: 8 months
Sauternes Single Cask [Finish] (Uniquely Islay Series – An t-Earrach 2022, #3/10)730/201314.10.201301.03.2022Finish: 14 months
Sauternes Single Cask Finish for SMCC (Camping Series, #4)712/201424.09.201409.03.2022Finish
Sauternes Single Cask Finish for DrankDozijn – Mealach729/201314.10.201306.05.2022Finish: 16 months
Sauternes Single Cask Finish for Good Friend (Taiwan)714/201424.09.201412.07.2022Finish
Sauternes Single Cask Finish for SMCC (The Birth of Kilchoman Story, #1)463/201219.07.201219.07.2022Finish
Sauternes Single Cask Finish for Japan594/201220.09.201221.09.2022Finish: 10 months
Sauternes Cask Finish [for Smaller Markets]44/201331.01.201322.09.2022Finish: 12 months
Sauternes Single Cask [Finish] (Uniquely Islay Series – An Geamhradh 2022, #3/5)1001/201418.12.201412.12.2022Finish: 17 months
Sauternes Single Cask Finish – Kukon593/201220.09.201203.04.2023Finish: 18 months
Sauternes Single Cask Finish for The Distillery Shop596/201220.09.201215.05.2023Finish: 21 months
Sauternes Single Cask Finish (Uniquely Islay Series – An Samhradh 2023, #5/10)713/201424.09.201407.06.2023Finish: over 2 years
Sauternes Single Cask Finish (Uniquely Islay Series – An Samhradh 2023, #6/10)592/201220.09.201207.06.2023Finish: 22 months
10 yo Sauternes Single Cask Finish celebrating the 40th anniversary of Warehouse Liquors36/201331.01.201309.06.2023Finish: 2 years
10 yo Sauternes Single Cask Finish for Scotch Lodge & Westmoreland Liquor598/201220.09.201215.06.2023Finish: 2 years
Sauternes Single Cask Finish por Le Québec597/201220.09.201230.06.2023Finish: 2 years
Sauternes Single Cask Finish for Tainan1002/201418.12.201411.07.2023Finish: nearly 2 years
Sauternes Single Cask Finish for Bar Livet – 10th Anniversary38/201331.01.201315.11.2023Finish: over 2 years
Sauternes Single Cask Finish for SMCC1008/201418.12.201420.11.2023Finish: over 2 years
Sauternes Single Cask Finish for SMCC37/201331.01.201320.11.2023Finish: over 2 years
Sauternes Single Cask Finish for Australia1007/201418.12.201406.03.2023Finish: 18 month
9 yo Sauternes Single Cask Finish – ImpEx Cask Evolution 02/20241003/201418.12.201401.05.2024Finish: over 2 years
Small Batch Releases with Sauternes cask content:
China Small Batch No. 204.04.202170% Bourbon, 10% Oloroso Sherry, 20% Sauternes
USA Small Batch No. 507.05.202170% Bourbon, 5% Oloroso Sherry, 25% Sauternes
Exclusive Selection No. 2 (2021)09.06.202170% Bourbon, 5% Oloroso Sherry, 25% Sauternes
Poland Small Batch No. 130.06.202170% Bourbon, 5% Oloroso Sherry, 25% Sauternes
UK Small Batch No. 3202170% Bourbon, 5% Oloroso Sherry, 25% Sauternes
Sweden Small Batch No. 228.10.202175% Bourbon, 5% Oloroso Sherry, 20% Sauternes
Genesis Stage 2: Malting 22.11.202175% Bourbon, 5% Oloroso Sherry, 20% Sauternes
French Inspiration #2 (Small Batch for France)07.04.202275% Bourbon, 5% Oloroso Sherry, 20% Sauternes
Korea Small Batch No. 1202275% Bourbon, 5% Oloroso Sherry, 20% Sauternes
Total Wine Concierge Small Batch No. 206/202270% Bourbon, 5% Oloroso Sherry, 25% Sauternes
Quebec Small Batch No. 131.08.202275% Bourbon, 5% Oloroso Sherry, 20% Sauternes
Poland Small Batch No. 220.09.202275% Bourbon, 5% Oloroso Sherry, 20% Sauternes
Belgium & Luxemburg Small Batch No. 319.10.202270% [recte: 75%] Bourbon, 5% Oloroso Sherry, 20% Sauternes
Norway Small Batch No. 2202275% Bourbon, 5% Oloroso Sherry, 20% Sauternes
Triskele Casks [Small Batch] for Spec´s – Sauternes202375% Bourbon, 5% Oloroso Sherry, 20% Sauternes