Kilchoman is one of a growing number of distilleries who do not sell casks for independent bottlers, and keep the bottling of all casks within the distillery. Nevertheless, Kilchoman is happy to do private bottlings, so long as they’re bottled by them. For many distilleries, single casks are the way to get the interesting stuff. Happily, with Kilchoman there’s interesting stuff coming out of the distillery all the time, and the private bottlings augment that nicely.
Omef at a Kilchoman Tasting at the Mozner
Omer Ganor, known to one and all as Omef, owns and runs two very well known bars in Israel The Mozner and the Travitz, and has recently started an informative and fun Hebrew podcast called “Cask Strength”.
The Mozner
Omef bottled one of the few Kilchoman casks in Calvados, and sold it (within hours, actually) in Israel.
Kilchoman Cask 217/2013 Calvados Finish, Distilled 14.8.2013 Bottled 28.9.2020 for the Omef, 261 Bottles (55.8% ABV, NCF, NC)
Appearance: Gold, sturdy necklace and slow legs.
Nose: Very much identifiable as Kilchoman but softer and with very clear apple notes. There are green apples, more on the sour side, apple peels, honey and hints of brine. There’s also some gentle wood spice and some vanilla custard, albeit smoky.
Palate: Sweet and ashy, with a lot of the apple, alongside pepper, concentrated honey and a hint of citrus peel.
Linger : Think of drinking a cider after smoking a cigar and eating a piece of smoked salami so the the cider mellows out the smoke.
Conclusion
While this isn’t the most complex whisky you’ll ever taste, this is an excellent Kilchoman, and we’re very lucky to have had it selected by Omer, and hence available in Israel. It’s really beautifully rounded with the Calvados taking it a few steps beyond and is an extremely enjoyable bottle.