As you probably know, I wasn’t too enthousiastic about the general release of Kilchoman 3yo. Let’s find out how it compares to the single cask they’ve released for La Maison du Whisky at Whisky Live Paris. It was only sold to people who attended the whisky dinner.

While the regular 3yo was finished in sherry casks, this is the first bourbon version of Kilchoman.

Kilchoman 3yo 2006
(61,1%, OB for LMdW 2009, cask #232)

Nose: amazingly different. Almost none of the banana / rhubarb smell that is so characteristic of new-make. More iodine this time, much more vanilla as well. A great farminess that was completely absent in the regular release. Big peat of course. Mouth: even bigger peat, now accompanied by smoked fish with a generous pinch of salt. I don’t know many whiskies that are this salty, but it works well. Quite unique. Less pepper than the general release. Not much fruit either, some apple maybe in the aftertaste, but certainly on a very low level. Finish on medicinal notes and peat. The smoke stays active for a very long time.

Now we’re talking! This is more or less what I expected from Kilchoman. Kudos to LMdW for making this cask available and to Whiskysamples for sharing their bottle.

Score: 85/100

ps/ I’ve just found out that this spirit was distilled on my birthday!