[Review] Kilkerran - Heavily Peated 59.3%

Today I am reviewing a sample sent to me by Stuart @whisky_whims. He got in touch with me on Instagram and offered to send me a sample of Longrow 18 (review to follow) and of the brand new Kilkerran Heavily Peated. I guess I could not pass on the opportunity!
Kilkerran comes from Campbeltown. It is produced by the Glengyle distillery and is one of the new kids on the block having only started production in 2004 (even if the distillery was actually founded in 1872 it had stopped production in 1925) I have tried their standard 12 and their 8 year-old cask strength which are fantastic so I am looking forward to pour this Heavily Peated sample into my glass!

A little leak in transit but nothing too serious fortunately!

There is no nonsense here as far as the presentation is concerned. This Kilkerran is presented in its natural colour, unchillfiltered and at the cask strength of 59.3%. The whisky has been aged for 55% in ex-bourbon casks and 45% in ex-sherry casks.

Nose: Quite a bit going on here. Sweet and citrus, some peat of course but not over the top, some malted barley, lemon, some savoury/iodine, seaweed and seaside air, yeasty bread, hints of honey. It gerts a little sweeter after a few minutes in the glass (apples, confectionery, caramel) What a start!

Palate: Sweet and spicy, peat, some heat at first, spirity, showing its youth (and high abv!), citrus again, after a few seconds, it gets rounder and thicker, sweet and salty, some malty notes, hints of milk chocolate, smoke, sour sweets, some bitterness and hints of mint.

Finish: Rather long in my opinion. Oak wook, warming, smoke, ash, peat, salt and seaweed, drying, milk chocolate again, bread dough, a little rubber and tar.

With water: The nose gets sweeter with more citrus too, peat still but less maltyness. Some bacon. The palate loses the initial heat but get a bit more spice throughout, still some sweet peat and lemon sharpness, toffee. The finish is sweet, ashy, peaty with honey notes.

That was a real treat and such a quality malt despite its (probable) young age. Another release which show how promising the future is for Glengyle and Kilkerran. I'm very excited to try more!
That you very much to Stuart for this amazing sample. I now have to go to Whisky Whims youtube channel and watch his review of this Kilkerran to compare my notes with his!
Slàinte!
Picture from the reallygoodwhisky.com 



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

[Review] Wormtub - 10 years old 56.8%

Image
  Celebrating ‘Try January’ today,  with something new from the guys at Atom brands and their Wormtub 10 year-old release. No nonsense here with a Speyside single malt aged for 10 years, finished in Sherry casks and bottled uncoloured, unchillfiltered and at the natural cask strength of 56.8% No info on the distillery apart from the fact it uses worm tub condensers and there aren’t actually that many distilleries left which use them… (personally, I'd be tempted to think Mortlach...) I cannot wait to dive in! My tasting notes: Nose: Fresh, spicy and fruity. Vanilla pods, oak spice, raisins, ginger (fresh & crystallised), orange, white peach, dark chocolate, hints of walnut, slight toffee & cinnamon, honey, jasmine tea. Slightly metallic too. Palate: Dark, chewy, rich & spicy. Liquorice, walnut, chocolate, oak, candied orange, spicy prunes, black pepper, wood polish, caramel, crystallised ginger & candied grapefruit bitterness. Finish: Walnut, bitter chocolate, dri
Read more

[Review] Bowmore - 10 years old Aston Martin partnership 40%

Image
Probably one of my favourite collaboration today, linking Islay whisky with Aston Martin. And this is courtesy of the Bowmore team, who sent me the bottle for free! I have had a mixed experience with Bowmore and I put this down to one main key factor, the presentation of the whisky. Not the box and label, but the abv and filtration. The standard bottles released at low abv (40%) have not really been that great, butI have really loved the 48%+ releases. Now this 10 year-old is part of a new Travel Retail range that Bowmore have released in conjunction with Aston Martin. You’ll find a 10, 15 and 18 year-old, The 10 years old is aged in a mix of sherry cask and bourbon casks (40%), the 15 in first-fill bourbon casks (43%) and the 18 in a mix of Oloroso and PX casks (43%). The whisky has also probably been coloured and chill-filtered. So let's get stuck in and see what this one is like... My tasting notes Nose: Sweet and smoky, dried fruit, ash, smoke, tropical notes, mango, caramel,
Read more

[Review] Glenfarclas - 21 years old 43%

Image
Before starting with today's whisky, I would like to wish you all a very Happy New Year, hoping 2018 is full of good things for us all! I would also like to thank you for following my whisky journey on the blog as well as on my Instagram page @themaltcask. My resolution for this year is fewer bottles but more from independent bottlers and older ones if I can! So let's start the first post of the year with a slightly older whisky from a distillery I have not really reviewed on the blog: Glenfarclas and its 21 year-old single malt. Glenfarclas have got quite a following as it is one of the only distilleries in Scotland still family run. They also focus essentially on ex-Sherry casks for the maturation of their single malt and these casks are laid to rest in one of their 28 on-site warehouses.  I have tried a few Glenfarclas in the last few years, but none really struck me apart from the 15 years old which I really enjoyed. The 12 wasn't bad, the 105 was okay too but th
Read more