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 Kilchoman bottled in spring 2011 featuring a blend of malts matured for three and four years in first fill and refill bourbon barrels from the Buffalo Trace distillery. This was the distillery’’s sixth bottling.