Kilchoman Distillery — Attraction in Scotland

Kilchoman might be one of Islay’s newer distilleries, but it feels like stepping back in time — in the best possible way. It’s the only distillery on the island that still does absolutely everything by hand, from malting their own barley to bottling on site. It’s a genuine “grain-to-glass” operation, and you can feel that authenticity in every part of the visit.

We were actually running a little late for our 2:00 p.m. tour and called ahead, slightly stressed about missing it. The team couldn’t have been kinder — totally understanding, patient, and genuinely more concerned about us arriving safely than about the clock. That simple kindness set the tone for the whole visit: relaxed, human, and cared for.

The drive out to Kilchoman is half the magic — winding roads through barley fields, cows and sheep grazing, the occasional pheasant darting across the lane. It’s not exactly walkable, but we did see a few brave cyclists taking it on. When you finally roll up, the old farm buildings turned visitor center are stunning — beautifully restored yet still full of rustic character.

Our tour guide, Sharon, was fantastic — knowledgeable, funny, and clearly proud of what they do. Her husband even manages the farm animals, so you get this real sense that everyone here is personally connected to the land and the process. Kilchoman employs over 50 people — more than many older, bigger-name distilleries — and that’s because nothing here is automated. Every part of the operation supports the local community, and it shows.

The fact that it’s still family-run makes it feel personal; we even met the owner, busy decorating for Christmas. That alone says everything about the place — it’s still family-run and community-rooted in a way that most modern distilleries just aren’t anymore.

And the whisky? Outstanding. Young, sure, but packed with character — smoky, coastal, and full of life. The Machir Bay was our favorite: balanced, a little salty, with that unmistakable sea air finish. The distillery sits near the ocean, and their fields even serve as a nesting ground for migrating birds — a lovely touch that sums up their harmony with the land.

What really stood out was the transparency. Unlike some of the corporate tours where half the process is behind closed doors, Kilchoman welcomes you right in. No secrets, no stage-managed “brand story.” Just honest, passionate craftsmanship from people who love what they do.

If you’re going to do one distillery tour on Islay, make it this one. For anyone who truly loves whisky and wants to see what it takes to go from grain to bottle — this is the one....

We liked that distillery at first a lot : it is a fresh and modern building with a nice and different shop in a beautiful setting with barley growing all around. The young tour guide was really good and knowledgeable.

But: unfortunately the manager who you probably don’t get to see normally is the only unfriendly and unsympathetic Scottish person we have ever met. People behind a business are always really important to us… Also the organisation, the manager itself as well as his employee at the welcome desk are absolutely unprofessional. At present, they do tours of 12 people because of covid in order to protect their staff in the still house – they say at least. There was only one place for the long tour left, and when we phoned for an additional place (just after the online booking 24 hours before the tour) as there were two of us, they said the maximum would be 12 and they couldn’t have more people for the tasting (space in the tasting room). But the rest of the tour should be possible. We both turned up, but then the situation was different : a maximum of 12 people also for the tour, for safety reasons. But they said it was already overbooked by 1 person (very inconsistent already). So 13, and this would be the absolut maximum. So just one uf us could take part in the tour – as booked - and when the tour startet the guide counted by request to make sure everyone turned up and it was 14 people, even though the manager insisted there were only 13, which was ridiculous as we were standing within the group. And they couldn’t be bothered that the tour now exeeded the maximum size by 2 people. But one of us still couldn’t take part. Lots of other distilleries around which we would definitely recommend considering...

The visit of this distillery was absolute a waste of time. The usual mass processing with friendly drilled staff in an impersonal atmosphere is very unpleasant for the visitor esp. without any advice about the products from the staff. And then after a friendly cool reception your disappointment is even bigger when you figure out that the products are soulless mass-produced goods with a bitter taste and you also paid for such an tasteless experience, so all in all a visit is not advisable. There are still the other customer-friendly distilleries on Islay. Addition to the review regarding the reaction from Kilchoman: Your answer regarding my rating shows what I've meant. First of all you blame the customer for not beeing informed and secondly, regarding to the point that your destillery is familiy run, we went there with our family to get an impression about a family owned company and than we pretty much been left alone. All i can say, we took a long way to Islay to visite all the distilleries. Your's was the last destillery i visited and compared to the others I have visited before, I felt misplaced as a customer and visitor of your company. I do not accept your excuses that the season has just begun because at the seven destilleries we visited before yours, we felt cosy and welcomed whereas at your place it was as sterile as a Shop on Oxford...