Kilchoman Machir Bay

The charming family-owned, barn-like Kilchoman distillery was founded in 2005 by Anthony and Kathy Wills on a farm in the Rinns of Islay, a fertile area on the west coast of the famed whisky region. To this day, the Wills family is the driving force behind the distillery: Anthony is Managing Director and Master Distiller, Kathy runs the Visitor Centre and their sons James, George and Peter look after sales and marketing.

Kilchoman was the first new distillery to be established on Islay in over 124 years, the first farm distillery on the island, and remains one of just four farm distilleries in the whole of Scotland. Sharing a backyard with some of Scotch whisky’s most revered and famous names, it was a task of daunting proportions, however one of great vision and initiative on Anthony Wills’ part, as he fulfilled his dreams to resurrect the grass roots tradition of farm distilling, while creating the finest ‘barley to bottle’ single malt with impressive substance and terrior.

It was conceived as the ‘ultimate farm distillery’ – taking whisky away from the factory production systems, and back to its roots by the barley fields. Historically, Islay became famous for whisky production thanks to its ideal barley producing environment, plentiful water supply, and peat for drying the malt. Anthony Wills specifically selected Rockside Farm in the very far west of Islay to establish his distillery as aside from his fondness and connection with the region, the property is renowned for growing the best malting barley on the island.

The farm includes a variety of landscapes and covers an area of 2,300 acres surrounding the ruined Kilchoman Church. The craggy hill ground to the south is grazed by a flock of blackface sheep, while to the west, Aberdeen Angus cattle feed on a combination of machair grasses and spent grain from the mash tun, known as draff.

But the farm's most fertile ground, some 400 acres of rich soil directly surrounding the distillery, is reserved for growing up to 440 tonnes of barley each year.

Not only does Kilchoman grow as much of its own barley as it can, but its handcrafted ethic also extends to traditional floor malting, a production methodology otherwise largely lost to a bygone era. Thus for a new 21st Century distillery, Kilchoman is already an old soul in tradition.

In contrast to the vast majority of other distilleries in Scotland, the Kilchoman production process starts on-farm at planting time with soil preparation, followed by planting, crop protection and finally harvesting. Kilchoman’s farm-grown barley variety, Publican, thrives in Islay’s robust weather conditions. Optic barley is also sourced from Port Ellen maltings, and both are kept separate throughout production to maintain control and better manage proportional options with the final expressions released.

The barley is then prepared for malting: Kilchoman steeps the barley overnight in 2 tonne batches, repeating the process to achieve a moisture content of approximately 45%, perfect for malting. The steeped barley is then painstakingly spread across the malting house floor and regularly agitated (raked and turned) over the next 5 to 6 days to achieve germination, while maintaining a 35% moisture content. The green malt spends 10 hours over a peated fire to achieve a phenol level (peat smoke intensity) of 20 to 25 PPM before a final 40 hours of indirect drying from an oil fired system to arrive at a moisture content of 5%, perfect for gristing and mashing. This produces a total of 6000 litres of wort which is fermented for 90 hours, allowing for the development of complex esters and the build-up of lactic acid. The resulting wash is now a cloudy, smoky, strong beer (without the hops) measuring around 8% ABV and with creamy, buttery, and particularly fruity notes.

True to Kilchoman's artisan ethos, the stills, mash tun and condensers are all bespoke. The hand-controlled stills some of the smallest in Scotland and are crucial to the style and character of the spirit. With a high reflux level meaning more copper contact with the spirit, they create a marriage of earthy, maritime peat smoke and light floral citrus notes, which characterise Kilchoman's single malt. 

The wash stills are charged with 3000 litres of wash which in turn produces 1000 litres of low wines at 20% ABV. The spirit stills are subsequently charged with 1600 litres of low wines to produce 300 litres of spirit at 69% ABV, which is reduced to 63.5% ABV ahead of barreling.

The majority of new make spirit is then transferred to first-fill ex-Buffalo Trace barrels & first-fill Oloroso Sherry butts and hogsheads from Miguel Martin in Jerez, Spain. The distillery also uses a selection of Sauternes, Red Wine, Rum, Port, Madeira, and Cognac casks, as well as various secret experimental casks. From there, it’s up to production manager Robin Bignal to decide when and how the wonderful artisan whiskies of Kilchoman are bottled. 

Kilchoman's single malts are all bottled on site at the distillery, completing the journey from barley to bottle.