Kilchoman has added Rockside 11 Year Old to its core range, marking the first age statement whisky in the lineup. The Islay single malt was distilled from barley grown on Rockside Farm more than a decade ago and will roll out across the UK and Europe before launching in international markets.
Rockside 11 is lightly peated at 20 phenol parts per million (ppm) and matured in a combination of ex-bourbon and ex-sherry casks, contrasting with Kilchoman’s heavily peated Machir Bay and Sanaig expressions, which are both peated to 50ppm.
The whisky offers a balance of light smoke, tropical fruit, citrus sweetness, and mixed spices, and the lighter style is designed to highlight the more subtle characteristics of the Kilchoman spirit.
“Over twenty years in the making, Rockside 11 is the culmination of a journey that began with our first crop of Rockside barley in 2004,” said Anthony Wills, Kilchoman founder. “Across fifteen 100% Islay releases, we watched the spirit develop, waiting for the right moment to introduce Rockside as a core range expression.”
Kilchoman’s Rockside range is Islay’s only Single Farm Single Malt Scotch whisky. The barley is grown, malted, peated, distilled, matured, and bottled on-site at Rockside Farm.
“Bright, fragrant and threaded with sweet peat, Rockside’s character begins with the barley,” Wills said. “Grown here on the farm, it endures harsh conditions, yet those challenges produce a barley, and ultimately a whisky, unlike any other.”
Wills added: “Our work in the stillhouse and warehouse play an equally important role in shaping the spirit, but those processes can be replicated, Rockside Farm and Rockside barley cannot.”
According to the official notes from the brand, the nose offers orange, lemon peel, fragrant elderflower, honeyed sweetness, and maritime smoke. The palate features citrus, tropical fruits, barley sugars, toffee apple, salted caramel sweetness, and subtle peat smoke. The finish carries butterscotch, notes of walnuts, lingering juicy citrus, and stone fruits.
Kilchoman is a family-run farm distillery on the west coast of Islay, Scotland. It was established by Wills in 2005.
Rockside 11 Year Old carries an RRP of £55 (USD $73).
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