Kilchoman

The Kilchoman distillery is located on the island of Islay, in the Scottish archipelago of the Inner Hebrides, which is famous for its long tradition of producing excellent Whiskies with peaty and salty notes. Kilchoman has the unique distinction of being a Farm Distillery, or rather the only producer on the island that makes Whisky using the barley grown in the fields around the premises and malted directly in the company. This allows it to control all stages of production, from the field where the raw materials are grown to the bottling process. Its self-sufficiency is a guarantee of artisanal workmanship and absolute quality.

The Kilchoman Farm Distillery was established in 2005 and is the first of its kind on the island. Due to its uniqueness, it still produces the only Single Malt Fam in the whole of Scotland. It is a family-run distillery, managed by Anthony and Kathy Wills, with the help of their three sons George, James and Peter. Kilchoman's philosophy is based on the somewhat nostalgic idea of going back to basics and creating a business where they can produce a truly homemade Whisky in all regards. The farm covers some 2,000 acres, 250 of which are dedicated to the cultivation of barley for Whisky production, while the rest is allocated to woodland, meadows and pastures for sheep and prized Aberdeen Angus cattle.

As well as producing the barley, Kilchoman is one of the seven Scottish distilleries that carries out the floor malting process in-house. The emergence of industrial spirit production has now generally outsourced this type of processing to specialist companies. The mashing process is also supervised by Anthony, who ensures that everything is in line with the company's high quality standards. Distillation is carried out in small batches, using very small stills, which ensures excellent quality and purity. The distillates express floral, fruity and delicately peaty aromas, which are the true trademarks of the area. The Single Malt is matured in casks that are carefully selected from the best producers in the world. The Bourbon casks come from the Buffalo Trace distillery in the United States while the Andalusian casks from Jerez de la Frontera come from the Miguel Martin Bodega. Ageing is also carried out in barrels that have previously been used to age Sauternes, red wine, Rum, Port, Madeira and Cognac.