Spirits · Islay, Scotland
Kilchoman Distillery
A family farm distillery on Islay making peated single malt from field to bottle.
- Founded
- 2005
- Founded by
- Anthony Wills, Kathy Wills
- Based in
- Islay, Scotland
Making it since
2005
Their story
Anthony and Kathy Wills moved to Islay in 2004 and set up on Rockside Farm, near Machir Bay on the island's west coast. Kathy's family had lived on Islay since the 1930s. When they filled their first cask in December 2005, it was the first new distillery on the island in 124 years.
Kilchoman is still independent and family run. Anthony leads production and blending, Kathy runs the visitor center and staff, and their three sons handle sales around the world. The team has grown from five people to about fifty.
How it's made
Kilchoman grows barley on its own farm and malts some of it on traditional floor maltings, one of only a handful of Scottish distilleries still doing so, peating it lightly. It also buys more heavily peated malt from Port Ellen. Spirit runs through two pairs of small stills and matures mostly in ex-bourbon casks, with its 100% Islay release made entirely from farm-grown barley.
Kilchoman is the focus, so there won't be a second production site coming.
Why we carry them
We point peat lovers to Kilchoman for a smoky Islay malt with a bright, fresh side, and the 100% Islay bottling is a rare grain-to-glass whisky.
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