Kilchoman Casado
Kilchoman was founded in 2005 by Anthony Wills in the northwest corner of Islay, near Machir Bay. It sources its barley from Rockside Farm along with Port Ellen maltings. Interestingly, the Port Ellen maltings are peated to 50ppm, whereas the maltings done at the distillery are closer to 20ppm. From 2005 to 2023, the distillery sourced its barrels from Buffalo Trace but since 2023, the barrels come from Breckenridge Distillery in Colorado. The distillery frequently uses sherry and other ex-wine casks to finishing or full maturation, both in their core and more limited offerings. The Kilchoman Casado is a limited edition offering that debuted in 2022. The name Casado is Portuguese for marriage and the whisky is matured in first fill-bourbon barrels for 6 years before 38 casks were blended for 2 years in two 6,000 liter Portuguese red wine vats.
McCarthy’s 6 Year Oloroso Finish
McCarthy’s was founded by Steve McCarthy and first released as a whiskey in 1996, serving in the vanguard of American single malt whiskies. Hailing from the Mount Hood region of Oregon, McCarthy’s barley is sourced entirely from Scotland and is peat smoked. The early releases earned high praise from whiskey reviewers like Jim Murray but they have not rested on their laurels. The McCarthy’s 6 Year Oloroso Finish is distilled from heavily peated Scottish barley and aged in Oregon oak casks before being finished for an unknown amount of time in Spanish ex-Olorosh sherry casks.
Rampur Double Cask
Rampur distillery is located in the Uttar Pradesh region of India and is owned by Radico Khaitan. While technically distilling spirits since 1943, by the turn of the century Rampur was launching brands under it’s own name for the domestic market and, increasingly, for international ones. The Rampur Double Cask is double distilled from six-row barley and matured using both American ex-bourbon and European ex-sherry casks.