Scotland, Isle of Islay. Distillery operational. Owner: Anthony Wills

Like the Arran distillery, Kilchoman was the first distillery to be built on the Isle of Islay for over 20 years. The most recent arrivals before it were Bunnahabhain and Bruichladdich, both founded in 1881. It was at the initiative of Anthony Wills that Kilchoman distilled its first malt in 2005. In doing so, it renewed a tradition dear to Scotland, producing whisky at an independent, family-owned farm distillery. Anthony watches over the grain with the help of his wife and three sons. Nothing is left to chance, from the ageing in bourbon casks, to packaging and bottling. No cask of Kilchoman seems able to escape his watchful eye, as is demonstrated by the very low number of independent bottlings released to this day.

A single cask Kilchoman (#754/2011) distilled in 2011 and bottled at cask strength in 2016, finished in a cask from Caroni, Trinidad’’s famous closed distillery. A limited edition of 264 bottles to celebrate La Maison du Whisky’’s 60th anniversary. La Maison du Whisky is a whisky and spirits importer and distributor founded by Georges Bénitah in 1956.