Kilchoman to auction first ever 10 year old for Charity

Between the 7^th and 14^th of December Kilchoman, Islay’s farm distillery, will auction their first ever 10 year old whisky in aid of The Beatson Cancer Charity. Just one bottle from the first cask will be bottled and sold via an online auction with all the proceeds from the sale being donated to charity.

Established in 2005, Kilchoman was the first distillery to be built on the famous whisky-making Island of Islay in over 124 years. Kilchoman is the only distillery in Scotland to produce whisky from barley grown and malted on-site. The distillery has been releasing whisky since 2009 however it is yet to reach the landmark 10 years of age.

The one-off bottle will be hand bottled by Kilchoman Founder, Anthony Wills directly from Cask No1, filled on the 14^th of December 2005. Limited stocks mean that Kilchoman will not release more ten year old whisky for some years however the recent illness of Distillery Manager, John MacLellan and a desire to celebrate the milestone sparked distillery Founder Anthony Wills into planning the unique bottling.
Anthony Wills Kilchoman Founder and Managing Director “While our neighbouring distilleries have been celebrating far longer periods in the industry we wanted to acknowledge 10 years of Kilchoman and also raise some money for a very worthy cause which has become close to the whole Kilchoman team”.

John MacLellan, Kilchoman Distillery Manager “The work carried out by The Beatson Cancer Charity is exemplary in all aspects of research, treatment and after care”.

The online auction will be hosted on the distillery’s website www.kilchomandistillery.com and is scheduled run from 12 noon on the 7^th to 12 noon on the 14^th of December (GMT). The auction is open to Kilchoman fans worldwide. More information about The Beatson Cancer Charity can be found on the Kilchoman website.

Notes to Editors

Kilchoman Distillery is a small family run farm distillery based on the rugged west coast of Islay. The distillery was established by Anthony Wills in 2005, the idea was to build a new distillery which took whisky production back to its roots. Anthony and wife Kathy have now been joined by their three sons: George, James and Peter.

Kilchoman produces its 100% Islay single malt from barley which is grown in fields surrounding the distillery and completes every stage of the whisky-making process at the distillery, including traditional floor malting. Kilchoman is the only distillery in Scotland to do this.

Since the first bottling was released in 2009, Kilchoman has quickly established itself as a high quality Islay Single Malt Whisky with these notable awards:

• Kilchoman’s exceptional quality was recognised at the prestigious International Whisky Competition 2015 (IWC) when Machir Bay won Gold, Loch Gorm Silver Outstanding and 100% Islay 5^th Edition won Silver.
• Machir Bay was named best Islay Whisky under 12 years old at the 2015 Spirits Business Whisky Masters, 100% Islay and Loch Gorm also won Gold Medals in the same competition.
• 2007 Vintage named Islay Whisky of the Year 2013, Whisky Advocate Magazine.
• Anthony Wills named Master Distiller of the year in 2013 at the International Whisky Competition.
• Kilchoman won Malt Advocates Artisan Whisky of the Year 2011, only three years after the first bottling was released.