Review #22-23: Kilchoman Machir Bay 2016 & Machir Bay USA East Coast Tour 2016

Kilchoman Machir Bay 2016

I bought the Machir Bay a while ago after reading their wonderful farm distillery story. I know whisky marketing should be taken with a grain of salt, but I love me some Islay so I was ready to give it a roll. Machir Bay is their flag ship that is made up of ex-bourbon barrels and Oloroso sherry butts. This bottle is probably about 9 months or so old if anybody feels that makes a difference.

Islay - NAS - NCF - No Color Added - $60 at the local - 46%

Color - Ripe Corn - a bit cloudy even at room

Nose - Vanilla beans, lemon zest, and just the slightest smoke.

Taste - Figs and tropical fruit, cereal. Strangely enough, I do not get any smoke. Nice mouthfeel and texture

Finish - Medium - Oil, campfire ashes,raisins and very mouth watering. A little bit of heat for for the ABV.

Overall - 7 - I like this expression. It does taste young but it makes up for that with balance. The smoke and the fruit work well together. None of the sherry notes are big so these must be well used ex-sherry casks or a small portion of what is used. I look forward to the distillery getting a little more age on their barrels. This is one that every sip out of the dram is a little better than the last.

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Kilchoman Machir Bay USA East Coast Tour 2016

This is the special release for their East Coast tour. From what I gather, it is the 2016 Machir Bay but cask strength. I couldn't find out more but if that is the only difference, I am excited.

Islay - NAS - NCF - NCA - Sample (Price at the local I'd guess $80-100) - 60.1%

Color - Ripe Corn - Side by side I saw no difference with the standard Machir Bay

Nose - Vanilla cake dominates this nose, some fruit after that, lemons, sweetness but no smoke.

Taste - Big sherried fruits, figs, raisins. Absolute big coating mouthfeel. Once again, no smoke on the palate.

Finish - - Figs, raisins and bonfire ashes. This finish is flipped from the regular strength, fruit dominates and smoke follows.

Overall - 6.5 - This was an interesting dram because it took some of the flavors of standard, and amped it up a bit. The sherried barrels are much more prominent in this and it is not as smokey. This leads me to believe that they increase the sherry to bourbon ratio for this special release. While I liked the increased fruit, it did make the nose more of a one note and the smoke got much more muted. Overall, if want Machir Bay with more sherry, this is the ideal expression for you.

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Rating system is price influenced as it is based on my shopping decisions when buying a bottle.

10 Best in Show

9 Great Dram for Special Occasions

8 Worthy of consistent spot in my collection

7 Worth picking up a bottle if in the mood

6 I would buy a bottle if it went on sale

5 I would drink it happily if offered

4 I would drink it if offered on the rocks

3 Maybe some soda will make this potable

2 I'll Pass

1 Toilet cleaner

Inclusive Ratings

Islay - 6.75 (12)

All - 6.3