Kilchoman Winter 2010
Back in Kilchoman’s early days, less than a decade ago for those keeping count at home, the distillery would put out seasonal releases for lack of having anything steady and regular enough for what their Machir Bay later became. Kilchoman doesn’t do this biannual release anymore, having transitioned to a more stable (though still not completely stable) line up of offerings. This Winter 2010 release followed the Summer 2010 release and, unsurprisingly, neither are readily available now. Still not sure how we ended up with this one, other than it being dragged out of some dusty cellar after gathering cobwebs for a few years. Not complaining in the slightest, however.
Glencadam 15 Year
Founded in 1825, next to Brechin distillery (closed permanently in 1983), Glencadam has changed hands many times over the past almost two hundred years. Angus Dundee (who also owns Tomintoul) is the current owner and the distillery has been in production since 2003. The Glencadam 15 Year is part of a single malt range from 10 to 21 years, with the remaining portions used in blends such as Ballantine’s. The water, fed by the Barry Burn, is known for being soft. The distillery’s output is a relatively low 1.4 million liters per year. The name “Glencadam” comes from the area known as “The Tenements of Caldhame,” which were grounds given to the town by the crown for food production located near the distillery.
Port Charlotte Islay Barley 2008
Bruichladdich has been pushing the sense of locality and terroir with their NAS offerings lately, and this Port Charlotte is no different, made with barley exclusively from the island of Islay, something the Peat Project we tried a few years ago didn’t claim, and a variant of the Scottish barley used in the Classic Laddie we recently had. The grain was harvested in 2008 from the farms at Coull, Kynagarry, Island, Rockside, Starchmill & Sunderland, then distilled that December before being aged on the shores of Loch Indaal. You’d strain to find a more local dram.