So often, a new whisky appears on the market which represents a brilliant new venture from an impassioned new business. I can’t help but love the drive and ambition that new players have. It is refreshing however to see a new whisky arrive which is the result and celebration of a collaboration from known names in the game. Enter: The Kiltmaker.
Being led as a tribute to the 150 year history of Leith and Edinburgh’s royal warranted kiltmakers Kinloch Anderson, we see the launch of a new whisky via collaboration with Blair Bowman (Whisky Consultant), Woven (Master Blenders) and the Leith Export Co (Bottling).
For full details of the collaboration, you can see the press release, which have shared here: The Kiltmaker – Pleated To Sett
What we have is a no-age statement release, bottled at 46.8% ABV, bottled at its nature colour and without chill-filtration. The individual whisky components and their barrel types are not disclosed, but we know that it is a “Blended Scotch Whisky” so must contain both malt whiskies and grain whiskies. The mystery constituent parts have then been married in hogshead casks before bottling. Batch 01 of this new brand and release has been bottled in full-size 70cl bottles at £75 GBP each and dinky 10cl bottles at £15 GBP available here.
Nose
A sweet, floral, and grassy start to proceedings with tart apple and sweet pear smells joining malt and grains for a light autumnal burst of flavours.
Taste
Bitter orange peel leads at the front of the mouth with an apple crumble set of flavours towards the back courtesy of apples, walnut, brown sugar and some warming cinnamon.
Finish
The combo of alcohol and oak spices rise with a white pepper heat but the light and sweet floral flavour remain long after the boozy tingle fades.
Verdict
A solid start from the blocks here and a perfect for the season. There are summery floral notes with autumnal orchard fruits flavours.
With the team at Woven behind the whisky making, you would expect this to be good. Though I have limited experience to date with Woven’s own works, those I have tried have been really good, and I’ve heard and read good things from others about Woven too. I love the promotion of the collaboration as part of this too. Whisky is ultimately a social drink, and the Leith community has clearly come together here.
I always try to avoid official tasting notes before I’ve tried something myself, so as to avoid being swayed, but once I read afterwards that Blair Bowman’s own tasting notes refer to a honeysuckle note, I couldn’t not notice it. That sweet floral notes is first out of the glass complements the taste and is the lasting flavour once the decent length of finish has subsided.
Beyond the sweet, floral, and fruity flavours, what made for a refreshing note was that this didn’t contain peated whisky. Or at least, no discernible peaty or smoky influences. Quite often, I’ve seen blends have a touch of smoke to them as the blenders go about ticking off all the boxes of profile notes. That might be quite a sweeping statement, I think that this whisky stands better for not having any peat about it, as it would mask those engaging and inviting notes.
It is well worth a mention of what is wrapped around this whisky too. I am a big believer in green initiatives – when done properly – and the idea of the whiskies being housed in a gift bag made of off-cuts from kiltmaking is genius. Whether some see it as novelty or shrewd marketing, the upcycling of materials is great and can make for collectible and/or reusable packages, which also show off the quality of the materials being used by the business behind the brand.
I have said this before but 10cl or 20cl bottles are fantastic. Yes, there’s extra cost of bottling and creating mini versions of your full size bottle but it’s a decent amount to really get to grips with a whisky and particularly so for the intrepid dram explorers.
It will be interesting to see how many the batches are made of this expression and just how many different styling the Kiltmaker series will extend to, but, its fair to say that I have enjoyed this whisky a lot and is a sign of good things to come.
M
Sample disclosure: This sample was received as part of a press run in advance of the launch of The Kiltmaker, sent to me by Kinloch Anderson without obligation to publish anything. All notes are intended as an honest, fair, and independent review of the whisky, and not as a promotion. Please drink responsibly. Please drink wisely.
whisky unplugged 