Kilchoman Loch Gruinart
Official Release M&S Exclusive | 46% ABV
Score: 3/10
Disappointing.
TL;DR
Harsh, young and disappointing
A supermarket sweep that doesn't meet expectations.
It's not very often that I venture into the spirits aisle in my local supermarket. With a lot of variety on the shelves, I know these bottles and expressions are not targeted at me, the enthusiast. However, the odd visit can turn up an occasional little gem, and that's what I hoped when I noticed this Kilchoman.
I've covered a few different supermarket offerings when it comes to whisky on Dramface, and they are bottles I'd neither knock or turn my nose up at. They have their place in my collection and whisky flavour chases. The majority are normally presented at 40%, coloured and filtered to within an inch of their life. But, they're nice little whisky calibrators for a flight and plenty of these expressions go on offer, especially in the run up to Christmas. I'm looking forward to being gifted a JW Black 12 year old or some Speyside variety. Maybe they’ll make for an engaging review for Dramface, and maybe help me appreciate the bottles I have tucked away. Recently, I managed to come across a Classic Laddie for £35. A lovely find if you ask me.
It's really not typical to find something that's 46% and above (excluding Wild Turkey 101 of course) in a supermarket outside of Scotland. Anything like that, that would be non-chill filtered and natural colour, then I'd have to make my way online or see what one of the very, very few drink specialists here in Northern Ireland have in stock. On a side note, if anyone wants to donate a small fortune for me to open my own specialist spirits shop here, that focuses more on Scotch and world whiskies, then let me know. There's an untapped market here for sure, especially after visiting the Good Spirits Company in Glasgow; a super establishment.
Anyway, Kilchoman is one of those Scotch brands that doesn’t seem to have found its way over to Northern Ireland, well, as far as I'm aware. So seeing this dawn on the shelves, I had to grab a bottle. It was only last week at the Glasgow Whisky Festival that I tried Kilchoman for the very first time. The Machir Bay and Sanaig were delicious drams, and early pours for me so no whisky saturation for me while tasting. The 16yo however, that's a different story if I'm honest. Not a great whisky, definitely not worth the asking price. But I digress.
It's cool to see a UK supermarket buddying up with a specific Scotch distillery for exclusive bottles. Marks and Spencer (M&S) previously had a 14 year old Glengoyne for £35-40. It was a great bottle, and I really enjoyed my time with it. So that's kind of why I leaned towards getting this Kilchoman, especially after noticing the presentation of the bottle. I know both Lidl and Aldi had released super old age statement whiskies in the past which have gone down quite well. Albeit, under a white label branded bottle name, but a partnership nonetheless. It would be nice to see some more collaboration of this type. I mean, how often does an Islay single malt make its way to our shelves that's readily available?
Back to my point before, Northern Ireland doesn't seem to get its share of Scotch. It was great to see an available bottle from Islay, and if a whisky curious individual were to take the plunge on this bottle, they might enjoy it. Or not, but it's a start.
I relate it to some of the 'barrel picks' bottles you see with Bourbons. Not only is the bourbon or American whiskey a single barrel, but hand-picked by a store or chain of stores, or even a whiskey club. Check out this awesome video here on what a barrel pick is the fabulous duo from It's Bourbon Night. Now that's an experience on the bucket list for sure. Having the ability to sample various barrels from a warehouse, and widdle it down to your favourite that'll be bottles and shared. One can only dream. I suppose that's what Roy at Aqvavitae had the pleasure of doing for his Barfly Ardnamurchan single cask duo. Lucky sod.
It's been a week since I returned home from an incredible weekend for the annual Glasgow Whisky Festival, so my liver is finally ready again and I was excited at the prospect of bringing home a bottle of Kilchoman, given how impressed I was by two of the pours from last week. So here we have my thoughts on Loch Gruinart.
Review
Kilchoman Loch Gruinart, M&S Exclusive, 46% ABV
£35, currently only available from Marks & Spencer
A previous version of Loch Gruinart was made available through French supermarkets through 2020 and 2021.
Available in the U.K, in Marks & Spencer supermarket. 46%ABV, NCF and natural colour. £35 cost. Good availability it seems. Seems to be a supermarket exclusive, so not sure on how many bottles remain. No mention on the bottle of the cask maturation, cask type or age/vintage. The name Loch Gruinart comes from Old Norse meaning 'shallow fjord'. It is a sea loch on the northern part of Islay. It is a designated nature reserve owned by the RSPB.
Score: 3/10
Disappointing.
TL;DR
Harsh, young and disappointing
Nose
Swimming pools/chlorine. Damp towel. Soft silage on a cold morning. White pepper. Wisps of wood smoke and warm sausage meat. Bacon fries crisps. A little yeasty, and some malt in there too. Rain soaked bark and wet leaves. Blast of fresh lemongrass, copper coins but overall it's phenolic up front. It comes across as youthful and hard to pick out anything else.
Palate
Quite hot initially. It has a soft feel on the palate and predominantly spirit driven. Again, youthful. Salty. Close rock confectionery. Brine that turns into flaked tinned tuna. Lick of peppermint. It's very thin in the mouth. Drying around the gums and slight astringency on the tongue. It has a long, smoke forward finish with more salt water/minerality to it. It's sour and a touch harsh at times.
The Dregs
I've tried this Kilchoman on a number of occasions since purchasing it. My initial pour wasn't pleasant and I hoped this would quickly change. The sourness and harshness that didn't sit with me on the first pour seemed to mellow after a while. But, it's disappointing, not much has changed to make me enjoy this whisky. I kind of thought it was my palate each day, or the food I had that might have impacted the taste/flavour of the whisky. Alas, the same base was there each time and it just wasn't an enjoyable experience.
That's why we review whiskies like this. I was excited to have found a Kilchoman in the wild. I thought, for £35, this wasn't bad. Why not take a punt? In the space of a week I've tried a fairly priced Kilchoman, which was disappointing. And tasted a really expensive version in their 16 year old, which also is disappointing. Maybe one propping the other up in terms of price, availability and presentation? It's hard to know. But it placed a sour taste in my mouth for a whisky I had high hopes for given the expressions in their core range.
I'd be keen to hear your thoughts as well readers, with a lot more of you having tried Kilchoman over the years. If you pick this bottle up, let me know your tasting notes.
Score: 3/10
Tried this? Share your thoughts in the comments below. HF
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