The STR 2019 Edition was aged in shaved, toasted, & re-charred red wine casks beginning in 2012, and this lot was bottled in 2019. The scotch shows aromas of summer fruits with a hearty measure of cinnamon spice, toffee and gentle peat smoke while it finishes long with soft caramel and layers of red berries.

Distiller’s notes: “A creation of the late Dr. Jim Swan, STR refers to a specific formula for the Shaving, Toasting, and Re-Charring of Red Wine Hogsheads. A total of 43 casks filled in 2012 were selected by Anthony Wills, Kilchoman’s founder and Managing Director, bottled at a strength of 50% abv without chill-filtration or coloring.

“The process of shaving, toasting and re-charring has had a huge influence on these casks and the flavors this single malt possesses. Kilchoman released a full maturation Red Wine Cask release in 2016 which took on lots of the big and bold wine flavors. The STR cask, however, provides a different approach.

“The shaving has reduced some of the bolder flavors on the surface of the oak, producing a more subtle red wine influence. The casks were then toasted and charred over a natural oak fire, fueled exclusively using oak chips from used staves, removing harsh tannins and undelivered flavors as well as breaking down unwanted chemical bonds of lignin, celluloses, and hemicelluloses, replacing these undesirable characteristics with the creation of basic sugars, vanilla, and spice notes.”