Kilchoman distillery (pronounced Kil-ho-man)[1] is a distillery that produces single maltScotch whisky on Islay, an island of the Inner Hebrides. Kilchoman Distillery is in the northwest of the island, close to Machir Bay. Kilchoman was founded by Anthony Wills and remains an independent, family run distillery.[2][3][4] It is the smallest on the island but since obtaining Rockside Farm in 2015, is in the process of expanding.[5][6][7]
History
First cask of Kilchoman single malt whisky
The distillery began production in December 2005,[8][9][10][11] and was the first to be built on Islay since 1908.[12] The distillery uses barley grown on site at Rockside Farm and malted at the distillery, as well as malt from the Port Ellen maltings and releases separate bottlings depending on the source of the grain.[6][12] It is one of six Scottish distilleries still working with traditional floor-maltings, and is unique in completing all parts of the whisky making process – growing barley, malting, distilling, maturing and bottling – on Islay.
Kilchoman Loch Gorm, 46%
The distillery first filled casks on 14 December 2005 and the distillery began bottling 3-year-old single malt in September 2009.[6] The first Kilchoman, the "Inaugural release" was released in 2009 and the first 100% Islay whisky released in 2011.
The whisky produced by the Port Ellen maltings are peated to the same levels as Ardbeg 50 ppm, while the malt peated on their own floor maltings will be approximately 20 ppm.[13] Since 2023, Kilchoman has been sourcing bourbon casks from Breckenridge Distillery in Colorado. The new supplier has replaced Buffalo Trace, from where Kilchoman has sourced bourbon barrels since 2005.[14][15] In 2023, the distillery came second in a ranking by Cask Connoisseur of the most popular whisky distilleries.[16]
