The Single Cask Nation Kilchoman 4

Tasting notes:
     It is said that four year olds think the world revolves around them.  In this case, it is true.  (We’re talking about the whisky here, Kilchoman, don’t let it go to your head. That said, I must add: damn, people, you’re killing it over there!) On the nose, there’s heavily peated new make distilled into a Green Bay, WI bratwurst and stuck in an exhaust pipe to mature.  That is, if Green Bay, WI were a tiny town on Islay (PEAT HEADS RULE!!!).  There are also notes of grain cereal, boiled bacon, Peat-E’s, or maybe Peat-O’s.  Peat-O’s: The breakfast of Ileachs.
     It’s a veritable punch in the mouth on the mouth.  A suckerpunch: the nose suckers you in, the ornery little bastard.  It’s like the illicit love child of an Islay peat bog and a potpourri sachet crafted by an expert meth producer in his spare time.  And there are alstroemeria in the sachet.  And burning embers from a Japanese hot pot meal.  Or maybe from what’s left at the end of a Kurosawa film.
     On the finish, it’s definitely King Arthur’s funeral pyre, floating into the mists of Avalon.  Kraft Islay Cheez Whiz.  Topping a fresh seaweed salad with broiled mermaid tail and cloved lobster buoys.
     Add a little water, and it presents with cloves, loam, and plastic, much as a modern day Three Kings would present a newborn baby Jesus:  gold being too hard to come by, frankincense having been supplanted by Frankenweenie, and myrrh having vastly undersold Francesco Smalto’s Full Choke cologne among the key 66-89 age demographic for the last 306 years (go figure).  In other words, this is one’s perfect for a crowded outdoor venue on a night of historic proportions.  OK, so maybe a Jesus reference is a little wrong for a whisky from the Jewish Whisky Company.  But the real question is: Is this Jesus reference wrong for this whisky?  We’ll let you judge for yourself.

–Our thanks to Joshua Hatton for the sample!  Stay tuned for reviews of more Single Cask Nation bottlings!   

To get your hands on your own bottles, visit singlecasknation.com