Every so often a bottle lands in my lap with a story attached, and this one came with a recommendation I couldn’t ignore. My buddy Anthony, who by his own admission is not a peat guy, lent me his bottle of Kilchoman Sanaig Cask Strength and told me he genuinely loved it. That alone made me curious. I’ve always been a fan of the regular Sanaig, so I sat down to nose it, taste it, and give it a mark to see whether this cask strength version lived up to the intrigue.
Let me start with the nose, because it’s beautiful. There’s something about Kilchoman that has always reminded me of Laphroaig, and this expression leans right into that shared character. It reminds me specifically of a Laphroaig sherry cask, particularly the 10-year-old at 48%. I’m getting smoked cherries, smoked raspberries, and chocolate-covered smoked berries. It’s everything you want in a peated sherry cask whisky.
Bottled at 57.8%, non-chill filtered with no added colour, and matured predominantly in Oloroso sherry casks, it delivers exactly the kind of aromatic depth I hoped for. Based on the peat level, and knowing Kilchoman peats to around 250 ppm, I’d guess this is sitting somewhere around six to eight years old.
On the palate, it holds up wonderfully. There’s a subtle black licorice note that comes to mind, though it never dominates. The smokiness is well judged, the mouthfeel is oily and viscous, and here’s the crazy part: at 57.8% it’s not hot at all. That makes it remarkably easy to approach for a cask strength dram. Chocolate, cherries, raspberries, a touch of licorice somewhere in there, and a good amount of proper peat smoke. Overall, it’s a really good jam.
Value is where things get interesting. The regular Sanaig is readily available at around $80, while this cask strength version sits just north of $100. At that price, I’d buy this all day. If it crept much higher, I might reach for the Laphroaig 10-year-old at 48% instead, purely because I know I’m getting a stated age. But make no mistake, this is a genuinely excellent whisky. I’d put it at an 86 or 87, and I’d happily buy a bottle. I’m glad Anthony loaned me this one so I could try it first, though I suspect I’d have been perfectly happy paying for it.
So my verdict is a firm recommendation. Have you tried the Sanaig Cask Strength, and where does it sit against the regular bottling for you?
To see my full tasting, check out my YouTube video.
Read the full article at Why the Kilchoman Sanaig Cask Strength Might Win Over Peat Haters
