Kilchoman Batch Strength
Official Bottling | 57% ABV
Score: 8/10
Something special.
TL;DR
Disappearing fast, needs to be a bit cheaper
Dunning-Kruger
One of the many facets of my whisky journey so far is that the further I travel along this road, the more I realise how much I truly don’t know.
Which could be at least uncomfortable, if not a little galling, but it’s defined nicely by the Dunning-Kruger effect. That is, the idea that those with introductory knowledge of something often don’t know enough to realise how much they don’t yet know, leading to misplaced over-confidence in a subject.
However, being the relative whisky newb that I still am, instead of railing against this probably rather obvious truth, I’m trying my best to embrace it. I’m even enjoying sending myself back to “whisky school” – which by-the-by has also been an excellent excuse to purchase a small number of whisky tomes to aid my endeavours. Since I’m getting my bookishness on, I’m open to more reading recommendations; feel free to influence me, and others, in the comments.
So, when a more experienced - and always generous - whisky mind gave me an idea for an appropriate rabbit hole to explore with you all for this review, it was with a generous portion of humble pie that I quickly realised the following; while I thought I had a general idea of what is meant by the term ‘cask strength’ in the whisky world, what I actually knew amounted to not a heck of a lot.
Firstly, what is it about cask strength whisky that has us enthusiasts ooh-ing and ahh-ing, and clapping our hands with glee?
My original assumption was simply that it has a stronger ABV than your average dram, right? Well often yes, but that isn’t its defining characteristic. Turns out cask strength is, by definition, a whisky which has been bottled direct from the barrel, without the addition of any water, meaning it retains its original ABV. And given the percentage of alcohol evaporation shared with the angels each year, this can range from anything from the minimum 40% right up to 65%, and beyond.
One thing we can say with relative certainty though, is that higher ABV tends to deliver the goods in terms of flavour. That is, higher ABV correlates with a more concentrated flavour potential, and a more complex and multi-dimensional taste experience. It also means that if you opt to add a drop or two of water, to customise the intensity to your own mood and preference, you run far less risk of over-diluting or “washing out” flavour and texture.
But how on earth do those distilleries deliver alcohol content consistency in their batches, without adding water? Indeed, stringent DEFRA requirements state that “the alcoholic strength of “cask strength” Scotch Whisky must not be adjusted after maturation”. Well apparently, they blend different batches of unadulterated cask expressions together to achieve an exact ABV required (with a teeny variance of up to 0.3 percent allowed between batches).
Despite the language used in many parts of the industry still, implicating that a beginner’s palate will struggle with anything higher than 40-43% ABV, there are happily an abundance of distilleries currently offering cask strength bottlings as part of their core ranges – a trend which looks likely to continue, given their popularity. So are beginners really put off by these cask strength offerings?
Like many, when I first tried tasting some neat drams, it was a bit of a mouth-scorching, throat burning experience as I recall. As touched upon in Gallie’s excellent Dramface feature on ‘gateway’ whiskies, we find that most of us need a bit of time to acclimatise to drinking high alcohol content spirit, and even the entry level 40% ABVs can literally take our breath away at first. But as we progress and try more whisky, we quickly get beyond that initial alcohol “shock” to the taste-buds, and start appreciating added aroma and flavour brought by higher strength ABVs.
With the result that now, when I try drams with alcohol content closer to 40% than the typical 46% mark, they can sometimes taste rather watered down. So perhaps it makes sense that more and more often now, in my intrepid pursuit of the most flavoursome dram, I find that it’s higher ABV, or cask strength pours that I’m reaching for and often enjoying the most.
It must be said that there is not always a direct correlation – I’ve had lower ABV drams which have knocked my socks off and that I would swear were much higher alcohol strength, and vice versa. Which makes sense - sometimes younger whiskies which haven’t had those extra years of maturation time to smooth out their edges yet, can taste very alcohol-forward. While their more mature counterparts, which have had time to deepen and mellow, tend to deliver a softer or more “rounded” taste experience, despite a higher or similar ABV.
Likewise, ‘cask strength’ doesn’t necessarily always equate to higher strength. As long as it remains above 40% ABV - and therefore remains legally ‘whisky’ - maturing spirit may drop as low as this in the cask and still be labelled as cask strength. Interestingly, in this scenario - without any reduction water added - there is often a wonderful and natural concentration of flavour in these lower ABV ‘cask strength’ releases.
Value for money can also play its part when it comes to me adding a cask strength dram to my shopping cart – being typically higher alcohol content and theoretically richer in flavour, I find that I can often savour a single dram, without feeling the need to refill my glass, meaning a bottle can last longer. Actually, I’m not sure that’s the case when the dram is incredibly moreish, like this Kilchoman. It seems to be disappearing fast.
But hang on - just as I’m getting into my stride with this thing, I notice the wording on this particular bottle boldly states “batch strength”, rather than “cask strength”. Is this clever marketing-speak, to hoodwink the inattentive buyer into thinking something is cask strength when it isn’t? And what in the name of the wee man does “batch strength” actually mean, anyway?
The Google-verse informs me that barrel proof, cask strength and batch proof are often interchangeable terms, perhaps aiding and abetting this confusion; especially batch proof and batch strength being fairly similar terms.
It would seem while ‘cask strength’ has legal guidance, ‘batch strength’ (or more commonly ‘batch proof’ in the US) is a designed ABV that is consistently met with each ‘batch’ by vatting casks to the correct ABV (think Glenfarclas 105) or reducing slightly with water (usually purified) before bottling, as in this case, to reach the desired strength.
Which, in this Kilchoman, is a punchy 57% ABV.
Review
Kilchoman Batch Strength, Official bottling, 57% ABV
£75 RRP, £67.50 paid.
And so, this Batch Strength Islay single malt combines re-charred red wine casks, oloroso sherry butts and bourbon barrels, with a few drops of water added post maturation to product an ABV of 57%, priced at £75.00, purchased on offer at £67.50
Score: 8/10
Something special.
TL;DR
Disappearing fast, needs to be a bit cheaper
Nose
I find this one a little reticent on the nose, not revealing its full flavour potential right up front, but giving some cheeky hints of what might be to come.
I get a little of that Islay peat coming through on the nose, but it’s very gentle, and tempered right away by green grass and fruity cherry notes. I also get charcoal, graphite pencil lead, malt biscuits, citrus peel, a dash of powdery pear peelings and more of those berry notes coming through.
Palate
I get Quality Street toffee pennies and the chocolate coated toffee sticks in the yellow wrapper first of all, with warming spice and a really healthy hit of smoky peat bringing up the rear. I also get strawberry lace sweets and thick creamy chocolate milk drink to finish, rounding off that graphite pencil, charcoaled, peaty smokiness nicely. It really is very creamy and chocolatey on the finish; a lovely surprise.
The Dregs
This dram is delicious – the proof’s in the pudding, or to put it more plainly, in the remaining liquid level in the bottle, which is dropping at an alarming rate. So much so that I’d hedge my bets that when it’s finished, I’ll be planning to replace it fairly quickly, if the price is right.
And price is the slight kicker here – there has to be at least one right? Retailing at around £75, it is rather higher priced than I’d have hoped, particularly taking into account that it is not in fact officially a cask strength bottling, although to all intents and purposes it drinks like one. Neither is it age-stated. So I’ll be keeping a close eye on any offers when it comes to replacing mine.
Score wise I should be docking a point and giving this a 7 out of 10 Dramface rating based on the slightly high suggested retail price. However, I need to recognise how quickly I’m tearing through it. I’m loving this. It’s an 8.
Would I recommend it? Yes wholeheartedly. I recognise how easy it is to reach for of an evening, and know it is in the great drams category.
I just wish I didn’t have to look out for discounts or flash sales to replace it.
Score: 8/10
Tried this? Share your thoughts in the comments below. PMc
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