I love my job especially when I get to try two of my favourite things, whisky and chocolate. Together even better but the fact that both are Scottish products, makes this nigh on perfect.

I’m sampling whisky from one of my all time favourite Scottish islands, Islay and chocolate from an Edinburgh based company. Kilchoman Whisky have teamed up with Coco Chocolates as part of their lockdown online whisky and Scottish food pairing masterclasses. In this series they have paired their whiskies with Halibut, Venison, Cheese and now to finish off, chocolate.

Located on the west side of Islay, close to Loch Gorm, Kilchoman is the only farm distillery on Islay which means that every part of the whisky is produced in one location. They grow the barley, they harvest it, they make the whisky and they bottle it!

They have a core range of four whiskies, namely Machir Bay, Sanaig, 100% Islay and Loch Gorm.

REVIEW - KILCHOMAN WHISKY & COCO CHOCOLATE PAIRING

Coco Chocolates craft their chocolate with the world’s finest Colombian cocoa, before enveloping them in original designs by independent artists such as Ellis O’Conner from North Uist, Gillian Kyle from Glasgow and Timorous Beasties from Glasgow. It’s beautiful chocolate wrapped in art!

Two chocolates were created to specifically pair with two core whiskies from Kilchoman.

Atlantic Sea Salt and Lime Milk Chocolate with Machir Bay whisky

Machir Bay was launched in 2012 and is matured 90% in ex bourbon casks (Buffalo Trace Bourbon from Kentucky USA) and 10% ex Oloroso Sherry Casks (Miguel Martin from Spain). It’s light in colour, like the sun shining on the barley fields, which comes from the quality of the bourbon casks and matured for around 5 years.

On the nose you’ll pick up that fresh peaty aroma and obviously smoke (it is an Islay whisky after all). On the palate citrus, vanilla and salty smoke play on your tongue and once you take a bite of the chocolate, its the lime that jumps up and down. The saltiness is in the background mellowing out the smokiness.

I’m not sure which you’ll finish first, the chocolate or the whisky!

Haggis Spice Dark Chocolate with Sanaig whisky

Sanaig whisky is completely the opposite of Machir Bay in that it is matured predominantly in Sherry casks; 70% sherry and 30% bourbon. For me the colour and the aroma is spot on for sherry casks; it reminds me of Christmas Pudding- all those dark, deep, rich cooked fruit smells. Heavenly!

Take a sip of this whisky and you warm from the inside. Add a square of this haggis spice chocolate and you’re hit with a wall of spice! Yep, the pepper from the haggis really comes through. There is also BBQ smoke and a real salty freshness there too. With it being so heavily influenced by sherry, this whisky has a heavier mouthfeel, it tastes meaty and hence, works so well with the Haggis Spice Dark Chocolate.

For me my favourites where the Atlantic Sea Salt and Lime Milk Chocolate (much of which was devoured writing this) and the Sanaig - unfortunately, these two should never be paired. Cooked fruits and lime - no thank you!

Kilchoman and Coco Chocolates have produced excellent pairings, absolutely perfect for a night in front of the fire with a dram in hand and the chocolate melting on your tongue, or for those long Summer lazy afternoons on the beach with friends. However you choose to eat your chocolate and drink your whisky, I hope that it’ll be a Kilchoman and a Coco!

The 20cl Machir Bay and Sanaig Gift Pack retails at £36.25 ex VAT and postage and the chocolate retails at £4.17 ex VAT and postage - all available from Kilchoman online shop - click here