
August 12, 2021

Kilkerran on the tasting table

Kilkerran, that's the Springbank-operated and owned Glengyle Distillery in Campbeltown. Of course I'm a die-hard Springbank fan but still, I find it incredible that they would have managed to come up with such a high, and very coherent quality. When you try them you could almost believe they had been distilled at.. Springbank. Let's see what we have gathered… Oh and I seem to remember that the ex-Ben Wyvis stills have been installed at Glengyle. Am I wrong? But who remembers Ben Wyvis?

Kilkerran 5 yo 'Heavily Peated' (58.2%, OB, Online Tasting Week 2021, 1303 bottles)

This one was all the rage in… May. Indeed we're late as ever. Colour: deep gold. Nose: there's something of a young bourbon in this baby, hard to explain. Then rather smoked bacon and burning plastics (which can be nice under some rare circumstances), typical horse saddle and cow dung, cold cuts, leather, linseed oil, a lot of thyme (thyme tea), Bulldog sauce, old tobacco pouch, oil paint… Boy does it tell stories! With water: bursts with smoked butterscotch! Did anybody ever tried to smoke butterscotch? Mouth (neat): so good, so whacky, so robust and rustic, so smoky, plastic-like, dried-orange-y, with some lavender-flavoured chocolate, a wee feeling of drinking cologne at times, and sometimes Rochelt's best instead. Tough and charming. Forgot to mention heavy gingerbread. With water: water makes the texture even oilier. Bitter oranges, turmeric, that bacon again, beef jerky, ras-el-hanout, heather honey… Finish: very long but never stuffy. Pepper, demerara sugar and oranges in the aftertaste. Comments: the kind of tipple that hardcore tasters will enjoy, for they're so unusual and entertaining. Very high quality/age KPI.
SGP:565 - 89 points.

Kilkerran 'Heavily Peated Batch 4' (58.6%, OB, Peat in Progress, 2021)

I've been neglecting these series for years, I believe I'm totally guilty of wilful misconduct. But remember the numbers of new bottlings have multiplied twentyfold since we started this very lousy website. Colour: white wine. Nose: rather amazing. Brake fluid, fresh panettone, ink, old wine cellar, church candles, seawater, mashed turnips and peas, then dried kelp and big fat mussels. Restless and mischievous. With water: raw lambswool and damp plaster, mud, and just Scottish beach sand. A drop of wine vinegar. Mouth (neat): much tighter than on the nose, although very oily as far as the texture is concerned, rather on lemon, yoghurt, sour wine and creams, and the greenest rhubarb ever. A fighter. With water: it would win using tropical fruits (too easy) and a brighter 'oystery' peatiness. In short, it got much more coastal. Finish: same, long and coastal. Oysters with some honey and Tabasco sauce, as well as kippers, clams and mussels. Comments: I would perfectly understand why Kilkerran would remain a little controversial, it's certainly not a consensual malt. Either it clicks or it doesn't. It would kind of chain-click at Château Whiskyfun.
SGP:466 - 90 points.

As I said, we've been lazy and naturally, we've got some older KK stuff…

Kilkerran 8 yo 'Cask Strength Batch 4' (57.1%, OB, Re-charred oloroso cask, 15,000 bottles, 2019)

Re-charred oloroso sherry casks, that makes or breaks. Colour: dark amber. Nose: well, burnt plastics and new iPhone at first, then young balsamic vinegar and old books and papers, then hectolitres of maraschino and guignolet. In short, very heavy sherry that just offsets any peatiness, even the most motivated one (ha!) With water: more saltiness, gravy, balsamic vinegar, charcoal and pine oil. You could use this as some embrocation but that would be a little smelly. Yeah a Cosmo-Kramer kind of idea. Mouth (neat): when they say re-charred oloroso, are they re-olorosoing the cask after it's been deep-burnt? I'm asking because that's what I'm feeling, with this heavy, high concentration of sherry-caramel that even the craziest PXs wouldn't display. Big black raisins, caramel indeed, and overcooked molasses. Rather menthol and liquorice than 'peat', besides. With water: well the peat remains buried under tons of marmalade-y sherry. We'll need a spoon to get the remains out of our tulip glass. Finish: very long and curiously lighter, as if the armistice was just signed. Orange wine and a touch of pencil shaving. Espresso, Cointreau and cigarette ashes in the aftertaste. Comments: what a journey! I like the brighter ones a little better but this one was an incredible storyteller. War, gloom and doom, rejoicing and celebrations.
SGP:564 - 88 points.

Let's make this a quartet.

Kilkerran 'Heavily Peated Batch 2' (60.9%, OB, Peat in Progress, 2019)

55% bourbon and 45% sherry. Between us, I'm not sure the world needs this much peat and I would prefer that beyond a few exceptions such as, yes, Springbank, most distilleries would find their best styles and not try to make just 'any variants', which always sounds a little desperate, unsecure, vulgar and inelegant. But there, let's try this baby… Colour: gold. Nose: much narrower than Batch 4, shy and discreet, but perhaps is that the very high strength? Washing powder, baker's yeast, paraffin, starfruits, physalis, gooseberries… In short, there isn't much to smell at this point. With water: sameish. Mouth (neat): good classic heavy peater ala modern Laphroaig. If you ever run out of antiseptics… With water: ah there it takes off, remaining oily and even fat, but displaying lovely lemons of all kinds and indeed a rather medicinal peatiness. Iodine, lime, oysters, cockles… I could drink this with Oostende's famed shrimp croquettes. Finish: long, tight and bright, and indeed rather Laphroaiggy. Comments: extremely good, but I'm not sure it would stand out next to Islay's cream. More anecdotal than the magnificent batch 4.
SGP:566 - 85 points.

Check the index of all Kilkerran we've tasted so far