Kilchoman was founded in 2005 by Anthony Wills and remains a steadfastly small, complete and independant family business. Small, because they do not turn out thousands of casks per season. It`s a complete operation because as the `Farm` in the title implies, they actually grow much of their own barley on site. And unlike most distilleries they aren`t a tiny cog in a vast corporate machine.

The Wills take smaller than usual yields from their barley and during distillation they take a much smaller cut than industry standard. This means that their whisky is exceptionally clean and matures faster and without burn even when young. They have never cut corners in their work, even when short of cash in the early days. They have always taken the long view, knowing that they wanted to sell to whisky geeks and that any drop in quality due to cost saving would be harshly punished. If you love Ardbeg, Laphroaig, Caol Ila or Lagavulin then you will adore the whiskies coming out of Kilchoman. (CW 18/11/15)