Kilchoman 100% Islay 2nd Edition is a fifty-fifty vatting of 3 and 4 year old whisky matured in ex-Bourbon casks. It's surprisingly characteristic for its age, yet simple and straight forward. It cuts to the chase fast, though offering a nice surprise of salt and spices turning into sugar on the way.
That's why Kilchoman's 2nd Edition of 100% Islay is very much like The Straight Story, an 'unlike Lynch movie' by David Lynch. A movie so un-Lynchy that it surprises you. A movie where an old man makes a long journey by tractor to see his ill brother. A story told straightly in chronological order.
Nose: Very lively nose that offers you salty smoke and peat right away. Balanced with spices and barley with hints of tobacco.
Taste: Interestingly the salty notes detected at the nose are just a memory fading away while the palate turns into sweet peat and hints of smoke. Sugary barley dominates the mouth.
Finish: Nicely long and straight forward with smoky hay and pepper.
Balance: Well balanced and simple whisky which manages to mix sweet and peppery notes nicely.
This also had the medicinal appeal, feel of iodine and sea air in the nose.