Distillery
Kilchoman
Kilchoman is a family-run Islay single malt distillery renowned for its grain-to-bottle approach: it grows and malts some of its own barley on site, then distills, ages and bottles on the island of Islay.
- Rockside / Kilchoman (Islay) · Islay, Argyll and Bute (Scotland) · United Kingdom
- Since 2005
- 3 products
The story
Founded by Anthony and Kathy Wills in 2005, Kilchoman began as a farm distillery at Rockside Farm, Islay. The first cask was filled in December 2005. Over the years the Wills family has expanded production while maintaining the artisanal focus and the philosophy of controlling all production stages within the company.
Production philosophy
100% Islay / Single Farm Single Malt: production aims to recreate the farm whisky tradition by controlling every stage — from sowing the barley to the bottle — to preserve territorial identity and artisanal process management.
Territory
Islay, Argyll and Bute, Scotland. The distillery is located on Rockside Farm, near Machir Bay on Islay's west coast.
Awards and recognition
Machir Bay: recent awards reported on the product page (e.g. recognitions from The Spirits Business and the International Spirits Challenge mentioned on the official product page).
Production method
Traditional small-scale production: cultivation and harvest of barley on the farm, floor malting, mashing in traditional mash tuns, long fermentation (about 90 hours), distillation in small traditional pot stills and on-site bottling.
Distillation
Distillation in small traditional pot stills, manually operated; long fermentations (~90 hours) to develop greater complexity.
Ageing
Maturation in various casks; Kilchoman uses a combination of bourbon and sherry as primary casks and also fills special casks for finishes or full maturations. The company site indicates a minimum warehouse period (minimum 1,130 days for some maturation stages).
Characteristics
- Type
- Distillery
- City
- Rockside / Kilchoman (Islay)
- Categories
- whisky
- Scotch single malt
- farm distillery
- single farm single malt
- Raw materials
- barley (orzo)
- peat (torba)
- water (acqua)
- Casks and ageing vessels
- bourbon barrels
- sherry butts (Oloroso)
- Sauternes
- red wine
- rum
- port
- Madeira
- Cognac casks
- various experimental casks
- Representative products
- Whisky Kilchoman Machir Bay 70cl
- Whisky Kilchoman Sanaig 70cl
- Whisky Kilchoman Single Sauternes Cask 70cl - Giftbox
What makes it distinctive
- 100% Islay / Single Farm Single Malt (grows and malts barley on site)
- Still performs traditional floor malting
- Long fermentation (~90 hours)
- Stills among the smallest on Islay, with high copper contact
- On-site bottling; end-to-end control of production