Tag: Scotch Whisky | MaltKlaus' Daily Drams

Rum casks are a thing now in the whisky world. I’ve tried a fair number so far and have found they can be a bit hit or miss – depending on the spirit and the casks used. One distillery where this has worked pretty well in the past is Springbank – they have easy access to rum casks since their sister company Cadenhead’s also bottles a few casks of rum every year. Now, this Kilchoman was bottled back in 2016 for the 60th anniversary of La Maison Du Whisky. In case you’re not familiar with rum, Caroni is the Port Ellen (or Brora) of the Rum world – a lost distillery.
This dregs bottle was given to me by malt mate Keith and was originally entered into the 2016 Malt Maniacs Awards. I recently rediscovered it in my cellar and asked my followers on Instagram and Twitter whether they would like to read tasting notes on it. The contents still seem to be alive and kicking (though there might have been some oxidation at this point), so let’s go for it!

Kilchoman 2011-2016 Caroni Cask Finish for LMDW

Dram data:
Distillery: Kilchoman
Bottler: official bottling for LMDW
Distilled: 01.12.2011
Bottled: 05.09.2016
Age: 4 years
Limitation: 264 bottles
Cask: Caroni cask finish
Alcohol: 59,5%
uncoloured / not chill filtered
Whiskybase link

Dram data:
Distillery: Royal Lochnagar
Bottler: official bottling
Distilled: –
Bottled: 1990s
Age: 12 years
Limitation: –
Casks: –
Alcohol: 40%
coloured / chill filtered
Whiskybase link

While this should probably be tasted head to head with a recently bottled sipling, lacking a sample of one I’ll have to make do with what I’ve got – a Royal Lochnagar distilled in the “dark days” of the 1980s, bottles sometime in the 90s. Let’s see how this one fares!

Tasting notes:
Colour: light copper
The nose is quite delicate upon the first contact, with the alcohol vapours being somewhat noticeable. Once the nose cuts through that, there’s a tiny whiff of smoke – not peat smoke, mind you – on a base of sweet things! Vanilla, sweetened coconut milk, fudge, dried mango pieces, canned peaches and apricots with a pinch of ready-made spice mixture on top. This is very likeable indeed and quite a lot deeper than modern supermarket drams in this price range. Let’s see if it holds up on the palate! Continue reading “Tasting: Royal Lochnagar 12 yo – 1990s bottling”