THE NAVIGATOR | FEATURE AN HOMAGE TO ISLAND HERITAGE After poring over potential sites across Scotland Wills settled on Islay, where his wife’s family had laid down roots nearly a century before. Aside from the family connection, Wills knew that Islay’s cachet would help him get a foot in the door of an increasingly competitive market. And he wanted his distillery to be different; not simply follow in the footsteps of Islay’s more established players. So Kilchoman began with a simple premise: to reconnect with the island’s rich heritage of farm distilling. Islay was once home to 35 registered farm distilleries, malting barley from their own fields, with peat cut from the banks that carpet this windswept isle. Celebrating that heritage, in a modern distillery, was the dream that drove Kilchoman. But with cash flow concerns nipping at his heels, Wills also knew he needed to have a quality whisky in the market as soon as possible. Crafting big, bold spirits that demanded a decade in barrel simply wasn’t an option. Instead, Wills wanted a lightly floral spirit, imbued with a hint of peat and a subtle line of salinity. Matured in good barrels, he had a hunch that the earliest releases of Kilchoman would impress, even in youth. So, he turned to the late – but legendary – whisky consultant Jim Swan, whose design for Kilchoman’s small stills with narrow swan necks produced just the light and fruity spirit Wills had envisioned. “Jim got it spot on,” says Wills with a smile. ISLAY’S FARM DISTILLERY The rest, as they say, is history, and since the first spirit flowed into barrel in 2006, Kilchoman has become famous the world over for its fruity, floral expression of Islay. That’s especially true in the 100% Islay release, which is made with barley grown and malted on the farm using Islay peat; distilled, matured, and bottled on-site. Growing barley on Islay is no easy task, but trial and error showed the varieties that could withstand the elements and provide unique character to the spirit. And while Wills isn’t as convinced about the notion of terroir in whisky as Mark Reynier, his former neighbour who famously revived Bruichladdich, he does want whisky drinkers to tap into the seasonality of spirit. It’s why their 100% Islay is released in Autumn each year, just as the new barley harvest is brought in for malting. Kilchoman is one of just a handful still malting their own barley on a traditional malting floor, here infused with the unmistakable scent of peat cut from Islay’s salt-tinged bogs. It’s a perfect expression of the island; a spirit of Islay from barley to barrel. But with only 13 000 bottles available each year, it’s a whisky Wills is eager to grow. “We have a big drainage programme going on at the moment, so we’re bringing more of our fields into barley production,” explains Wills, who’s joined in the business by his wife Kathy, and their three sons. “This year we harvested 280 tons of barley. We’re looking to get that closer to 400 tons in the next two or three years.” 100% ISLAY ANNUAL BOTTLING KILCHOMAN’S POT STILLS 30
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